You Were Always There: Part Four
by OpenBookLina
Summary: The TriWizard Tournament is being held at Hogwarts, and it seems that Mia's fourth year is going to be an exciting one. However, when Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire and he is forced to enter the dangerous tournament, things go from exciting to frightening. Especially with Harry's strange dreams, a new paranoid defense teacher, and a malicious plot taking place.
1. Aphrodite's Tale

**Hi there everyone! It's so nice to see you all again! Well, here it is, what you've all been waiting for, the first chapter of "You Were Always There: Part Four." Hehe, I'm so excited for you guys to read this, it took me forever to write it! My finals for school were last week, and let me tell you, they were NOT fun! I just wanted a few days of relaxation and chill time before I got started on this book. It has a nice, easy beginning, nothing too drastic. I hope you all like how I opened up the chapter, I know some of you in the past have said you would like to see the Thatchers be a little less perfect, and I agreed, so I hope this fixes that problem a little. I am soooo excited to be doing this book, and I can't wait to see what you guys think! Sorry if it isn't the most exciting chapter, but I love it, and it's very important for later in the story! So please, PLEASE review, let me know of any comments or questions, and I will post the next chapter as soon as I can! Love you all, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.**

Chapter One: Aphrodite's Tale

MPOV

It was a rather hot and humid summer's day in Little Whinging, with a blazing sun beginning to sink over the houses as it made its decent into night, and very few clouds drifting across a lovely dark blue sky that stretched on for miles and was slowly turning gold. The residents of Privet Drive were all going about in their daily routine, men just coming back home from a long day at work, women playing with their children or tending to the garden while they played on the lawn, and the paperboy making his usual rounds, dropping off the evening edition of the newspapers into mails boxes or mail slots. For the most part, it was a typical day in a typical place. That is, except for the argument that was currently taking place in the house of number two, Privet Drive, between a stubborn fourteen year old girl and her father.

"But Dad, Alex's birthday party is Friday!" Mia Thatcher exclaimed, desperately trying to find a way out of the situation she was in. "I promised him I would go, and all of my friends are going!"

"You shouldn't have made that promise, Mia," Ben said, looking sternly at his daughter. "I'm sorry love, but I have the late night shift at the office, and it's your mother's orientation weekend with the agency. You can go over your friend's house some other time, but this Friday you have to watch over Brian when he gets done camp at his preschool."

Mia groaned loud in frustration, wanting to stamp her foot on the ground like a child. She had really been looking forward to going to Alex's birthday party this weekend—it was being held on their small estate just a little ways north of where her friend Ron and his family lived. His family owned a group of horses and raised them on the estate, and that was what Mia had most been looking forward too. She absolutely loved horses, and Alex's dad was going to give the party guests a riding lesson. However, her plans for a fun time were abruptly cut short when her father came to her and said that she had to watch over Brian the very same day. Ben was unfortunately going to be held up at work, covering for one of his bosses, and Catherine had finally decided to go for her real estate license at the beginning of the summer. Now that both of her children were old enough to attend school (preschool, in Brian's case), she took the opportunity to do something she's always wanted to do. So, after weeks upon weeks of studying as well as handling all her usual motherly routines, she finally did it. As of just a few days ago, Catherine Thatcher passed her final exam and has become a fully licensed agent. The only flaw to this was that her orientation and training was this weekend, starting on Friday morning. Mia has been arguing with both of her parents for most of the day, suggestion other people who could look out for her little brother during the day, but it was no use. Everyone else was either busy, or Ben and Catherine didn't trust them enough to care for a four-year old. So Mia was stuck with him, and wasn't happy about it.

"But why is it always me that has to watch him?" Mia said angrily. "It's not fair!"

"Don't raise your voice to me Amelia Marie," Ben ordered, a warning look in his eyes. "You're watching him because one, you're his sister and that's what sisters do, two, your mother and I have no other options, and three, because I said so."

"I can't believe it! Every time I try to make plans the little bugger ruins it!" Mia said.

"If you keep this up then you won't have any plans for the rest of the summer," Ben threatened, his own voice rising with authority.

"But Dad—"

"But nothing."

"You can't do this!"

"I'm your father, and I can," Ben said, putting an end to the discussion. "Now stop back talking, or you'll be grounded for a week. You're going to stay home with Brian on Friday, and that's final!"

Mia glared fiercely at her father before making a shout of aggravation and storming up the staircase to her room, slamming the bedroom door shut behind her. She went over to her bed and then flopped down onto it, grabbing her pillow and stuffing her face into it, once again screaming out her frustration. Why? Why was she always stuck taking care of Brian whenever she has plans? Her mom and dad had friends, surly they couldn't all be busy on the same day? The camp didn't even last all day, Brian was coming home at one 'clock! This was so unfair! She was always stuck with him, and she hated it! Little brothers are such a _pain! _Groaning again, Mia rolled onto her back and glared at the ceiling as if it was somehow all its fault. For half a second, Mia considered going to the party anyway, but she knew she couldn't—Catherine would skin her alive is she disobeyed and left Brian alone, and she couldn't take him to the party either. She would have to watch over him constantly to make sure he didn't get hurt, and it was too far of a trip for a small boy. There was nothing she could do.

Mia laid there glaring at the ceiling for a long while before she sighed and sat up on her bed, her scowl still on her face. She eventually got up and then made her way over to her desk, which was sitting right next to her window. It was littered with a bunch of her school books, as well as folders and sketchbooks containing all the drawings she's made over the years. Once she sat down, she picked up the folder holding the most recent of her drawings, and a small smile came to her face as she looked at the sketches she drew of Padfoot. The giant black dog was bounding through a pile of leaves, chasing birds, or simply stretched out lazily in a patch of sun, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Padfoot was her favorite subject to draw, other than her friends, and she enjoyed creating these pictures because it portrayed a happiness and zest of life that has been denied him for so many years.

Padfoot was actually a man named Sirius Black. He was a convicted murderer who escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban, last summer, and has been on the run ever since. Mia and her best friends, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, had come face-to-face with him just last month, and Mia could easily admit that she was scared. Up until that point, all four of them believed that Sirius was a deranged, dangerous and powerful dark wizard who once worked for the most evil and feared dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. They also believed that Sirius was a traitor, a spy who sold out his best friends, James and Lily Potter, to Voldemort, and that he was the reason Harry's parents were dead. But that wasn't the case at all. It turns out, a man named Peter Pettigrew was the one who caused the Potters' deaths, not Sirius. Pettigrew, or Wormtail as he was called in school, had spent twelve years hiding as Ron's pet rat Scabbers, while everyone else in the wizarding world believed him to be dead. Sirius had broken out of Azkaban because he found out that Wormtail was at Hogwarts with Harry, and he wanted to go to the school to find the rat and kill him, as well as protect Harry.

For a while, it seemed as if Sirius was going to be a free man. They had Wormtail tied and gagged, and were going to present him to the Ministry as proof of Sirius' innocence. But the opportunity was snatched away from him—Remus Lupin, their professor who was with them at the time, was a werewolf, and what they all didn't realize was that there was a full moon that night. As Lupin transformed, Wormtail escaped, and Sirius was forced to flee into the night, riding a Hippogriff that Harry and Hermione had stolen and saved from death. Now, he was on the run yet again, but at least Mia and Harry knew he was safe. Sirius had sent two letters to Harry since they left school, and he always sounded cheerful in them. Mia would always send him one of her pictures of him in his dog form, and he would always thank her and ask how she was doing. As much as she was glad Sirius was safe, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Harry. Sirius had asked him if he wanted to move in with him before Wormtail escaped, and for just a little while, Harry thought he was going to leave his horrible relatives behind forever. However, Fate clearly had other plans, and Harry lost his chance. He's been a little glum about it all summer, and Mia did her best to try and cheer him up some.

Speaking of Harry, Mia saw something out of the corner of her eye and she looked over, smiling as she saw Harry staring at her through the window of his house, waving frantically like a mad man. The sight made Mia giggle and she quickly got up, grabbing her black marker and pad of paper as she went. Going over to her window, she sat down on the ledge and then opened it up, feeling the cool breeze drift on in. She saw Harry glance over his shoulder, apparently checking to see if the Dursleys were coming, but Mia could see them through the small gap in between their curtains. They were all still in the living room, their eyes glued to the television set. When he was sure they weren't coming, he opened up the window and smiled at her. Harry was fourteen, like her, and he had a messy mop of black hair on top of his head, with round glasses and bright green eyes that could be seen at a distance. The two of them have been best friends since they were small children, practically inseparable. He leaned down and his hand was moving for a minute before he held up his own pad of paper, with black letters spelling out the words: _**"Everything okay? I saw you argue with your dad."**_

Mia sighed before she picked up her own pad and started writing her reply. This was a little technique they came up with not too long after they came home for the summer holidays.

_"Stuck watching Brian again. Can't go to Alex's party."_

_**"It's okay Mia. At least you still have me."**_

_"Well, that certainly brightens up my day."_

_**"I knew you loved me."**_

_ "I was being sarcastic, Potter. Heard from Ron yet?"_

_**"Not yet."**_

_ "I hope his dad can get tickets. It would be amazing to go!"_

_**"I know, it would be a lot of fun! And thanks for the cookies, loved them."**_

Mia smiled at this. At the very beginning of summer Harry's cousin Dudley brought home a note to his parents from the school nurse, saying that he was now too big to fit into any of the schools uniforms. He was horribly obese and it was a risk to his health, no matter what Mr. and Mrs. Dursley tried to come up with as an excuse. So now, Dudley was forced to go through the diet of a lifetime. All his favorites were cut out, doughnuts, soda, candy, everything. What made it bad was that everyone in the house was going to follow the diet as well, including Harry. Mia was angry with this at first—Harry was thin enough already, she's always had her suspicions that the Dursley's never feed him right, and she was horrified when Harry told her about the diet he was going to be forced to endure. So naturally, Mia snuck him food weekly, either handing it to him directly or sending it over with Hedwig. Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and even Mrs. Weasley had risen to the occasion as well. Harry was sent so much food and sweets she wasn't sure how he was hiding it in his room. Also, little did Harry know that Mia, Ron and Hermione were planning on giving him the surprise of a lifetime. Ron and Hermione were planning on sending Harry cakes for his birthday that was just in a few days, and Mia had a surprise for him too. She was excited for Harry to get the cakes, because at that rate, he would be all set until they went back to Hogwarts.

_"No problem. Have you heard from Griff?"_

_**"Not yet, it's been a couple weeks though."**_

_ "I'm sure he's fine. We'd know if he wasn't."_

_** "I suppose."**_

Mia and Harry continued talking for just a while longer until she heard her mother calling her downstairs for dinner. Seeing as she was still angry with her parents, Mia would have rather stayed talking with Harry, but she was running low on paper, and she didn't want to starve herself to death. So she picked up her marker and wrote her farewell.

_"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."_

_** "All right. Now and always?"**_

_"Forever and ever. Goodnight Harry."_

_**"Night Mia."**_

…..

Mia's irritation with her parents continued on into the next day, and she hardly spoke a word to them. She didn't pay much mind when her father said goodbye before he left for work, nor when Brian tried to get her attention before he and their mother left for the day camp at his preschool. She knew she wasn't being fair to Brian. It wasn't his fault, but she was too stubborn to care at the moment, making her mother frown disapprovingly at her. Once they were gone, Mia showered and got herself ready for work. Well, at least her work over at Mrs. Brugger's house. Mrs. Brugger was a kind and gentle old lady who lived only a few streets away from Mia's house. She met the old woman when she helped to carry her groceries home one day when it was raining, and Mrs. Brugger seemed to have taken a shine to the young girl. They ran into each other last summer when Mia and Brian were at the park, and she offered Mia a job. It was simple cleaning and straightening up around Mrs. Brugger's mansion of a house. The poor woman had been on her own for many, many years, with her family only coming to see her a couple times a year, and the house eventually went into disrepair. Being as old as she was, she couldn't keep up with daily household chores on her own. So she offered Mia some money to come over a couple times a week to help out. Mia was too happy to accept. She really got along well with Mrs. Brugger, and she was wonderful company, telling her all kinds of stories, mostly about the things her and her late husband Robert did when they were young. They were quite the adventurous couple, although Mrs. Brugger hasn't been on any kind of adventure since he died.

When Mia was all set to go, she grabbed her bag, made sure all the windows were shut, and then headed out, making sure to lock the front door with her key. She walked out into the bright sunlight, shielding her eyes from the blinding rays of the sun. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, Mia started making her way to Mrs. Brugger's house. While she walked, she thought about a song she had heard on the radio the other day, and she started humming it to herself. It was a song called "Halfway to Heaven," by an American musician, named Celine Dion. Mia was quickly becoming a huge fan of hers, and this song was one of her favorites. After a couple more minutes of walking, she went from humming to singing the song softly to herself.

"_Come and go with me  
Wherever I am I want you to be  
Walking with your hand in mine  
Feel so fine  
When I'm close to you  
I know what it means to want to be true  
Never felt this way before  
Is there more_

_Are you feeling the same as me honestly_  
_Don't you think it's unreal_  
_I'm not dealing in fairy tales_  
_If this fails_  
_I don't know what on earth I will do 'cause I'm_  
_Halfway to heaven_  
_Let's go all the way_  
_I don't want to give it up_  
_'Cause I'm already falling in love_

_When we reach that place_  
_I'm dying to see the smile on your face_  
_I'm so sure you'll want to stay_  
_That's okay_

_I have so many dreams to share_  
_Please be there_  
_Let me share them with you_  
_If you're looking for happiness nothing less_  
_Come with me, baby I'm looking too and I'm_

_Halfway to heaven  
Let's go all the way  
I don't want to give it up  
'Cause I'm already falling now  
Halfway to heaven  
Let's go all the way  
I don't want to give it up  
'Cause I'm already falling in love…"_

Mia continued singing this song all the way to Mrs. Brugger's house, and by the time she got there, the song was over, and she was staring up at the magnificent house. It was quite tall, and covered with ivy that was slowly making its way up the walls, and a creaking porch swing that swayed back and forth with the light breeze. The house itself was a dull, dark blue color that has been fading away for years, and even the numbers above the front door was starting to peel off. Mia trudged up the stairs past the swing and then knocked on the door, hearing Mrs. Brugger's call of "Come in!" She carefully opened the door before stepping inside the front hallway. There was a marvelous grand staircase directly in front of her, leading to the upper floor, and to her right was the dining room while the living room was to the left. If she were to continue down the hall, she would come across old paintings and sculptures that Mrs. Brugger and her husband had collected over the years, a door leading to the basement as well as one of the two bathrooms and Mrs. Brugger's bedroom. Past the kitchen in the back was a patio that overlooked the entire backyard. The only thing wrong with this beautiful house was that there was clutter almost in every room. Boxes filled with old stuff was piled against the walls, the rooms were dusty, with white sheets covering the furniture in the unused bedrooms upstairs. The only thing that was well kept and tidied up was the garden out back, where Mrs. Brugger grew all sorts of wildflowers. Besides her grandson, they were her pride and joy. Mia turned into the living room to see Mrs. Brugger sitting in her rocking chair, with an open cardboard box at her feet, and wiping some dust off of a book she held in her lap.

"Hello Mia dear," Mrs. Brugger welcomed, smiling as she walked in.

"Hi Aggie," Mia greeted with a smile of her own. "Sorry I'm a little late."

"It's no trouble at all sweets," Mrs. Brugger said, gesturing over to the chair next to her. "I couldn't sleep very much last night, so I decided to get a head start. I found these old books of mine in the basement. French novels and journals, written during the Second World War I was thinking you'd like to borrow some of them. It would help you practice your French."

"Oh Mrs. Brugger, I couldn't possibly—"

"Nonsense child, go on ahead. I read them from cover to cover, they're really of no use to me."

Mrs. Brugger picked out a few books from inside the box and handed them over to Mia, who took them carefully into her hands. The spines were definitely worn out and the pages were starting to yellow slightly. But to Mia, they were priceless, a piece of history that Mrs. Brugger trusted her to take care of.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Mia asked as she placed the books inside her bag.

"Well, I'm hoping we can get the rest of this room done, then we can have a nice hot cup of tea before starting on the rooms upstairs," Mrs. Brugger answered. "I think our major project for this summer is getting all those empty rooms cleared out."

"Won't your kids be upset if we touch their things?" Mia asked.

"Don't worry about that dear," Mrs. Brugger said, waving it aside. "My son hardly comes to see me, and my daughter has moved to Australia for her work. Both of them took whatever was important to them when they left. Trust me, they won't miss a thing."

Mia nodded, deciding not to push the matter. Mrs. Brugger talked about her children often, telling her the happy days her and her husband spent with them. Yet even though Mrs. Brugger tried to play it off as no big deal, Mia knew that the fact her kids didn't really talk to or came to visit her anymore hurt her greatly. Mia was probably the only real company she's had in a very long time. Pushing away these sad thoughts, Mia and Mrs. Brugger finished going through the box of books, figuring out which ones were still in good conditions and which ones had to be tossed. When that was over, Mia got out the duster and started wiping away all the cobwebs on the walls and in between the creases while Mrs. Brugger cleared away the last of the cardboard boxes. The entire house had a certain mix between a Victorian and modern day style, making it unique and interesting. The walls had blue and white flower wallpaper, with a cream colored carpet that needed to be vacuumed. While she was dusting a glass cabinet in the corner, she saw that it was filled with cute little porcelain teddy bears, all smiling or hugging or kissing. Some of them looked as if they were centuries old, chipped in a couple places.

"Some of them were my mother's," Mrs. Brugger said when Mia asked about them. "Some of them got broken when they came here from Germany over fifty years ago."

"Your family was from Germany?" Mia asked.

"Most certainly," Mrs. Brugger answered, easily slipping into a German accent. "I attended school here in Britain with my sister, and when the war started, we were forced to stay, as it was too dangerous to go back to Germany. My parents were able to join us in 1940, right after my brother died while fighting in the army."

Mrs. Brugger went quiet, and Mia knew better than to ask any more questions. In no time at all, they had everything dusted, wiped down the furniture with some wood polish, vacuumed the carpet, polished the silver, and washed all the throw blankets, chatting the whole time. By the time they sat down for that cup of tea, it was almost noon, and Mrs. Brugger made them both some finger sandwiches to nibble on. It was at this time that Mia asked the elderly woman how exactly she met her husband.

"Oh, it was such a long time ago," Mrs. Brugger said, a wistful and dream-like expression coming across her face. "It was only a couple years before the war had started. I was fifteen at the time, and my father took us to France to visit an old wealthy friend of his. It was right around Christmas time, and his friend invited us to a grand ball held in one of the old palaces by the river. It was such a lovely ball, filled with beautiful music, and people dancing all around. However, I couldn't help but notice that there was one man who was staring at me the entire time. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, with warm eyes, and a smile that made my heart feel like it had wings. He asked me to dance and I gladly accepted. It felt like we were floating across the dance floor, and all I could see was him. The music was faint in my ears, and it was like everything around us faded into sweet nothingness. There was no one but us, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. He took me outside into the gardens, with all the snow it was like an enchanted forest, and we danced some more. We parted that night without getting the chance to learn each other's name, although he called me Aphrodite before I left, and I had given him my handkerchief."

"But how did you find him again?" asked Mia, completely captivated by the story.

"It wasn't until after the war that I saw him again. My mother, sister and I worked as seamstresses at the time, and a woman walked into our shop with her cousin behind her. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw my handsome gentleman standing in front of me. I recognized him instantly—I could never forget those eyes. He smiled and said that he found his Aphrodite once again. By the spring of the following year we were married."

"That is so romantic," Mia sighed. "You must have loved each other very much."

"He was my everything. He showed me the world, gave me a love I never thought existed, and always picked only the sweetest fruit to us to share. He died almost eight years ago, and I guess I just never found the need to go through all of our things, all of our treasures, remembering what once was. It was so painful…but it doesn't seem so bad now that you're hear Mia."

All Mia could so was smile at the woman. Her story was something like a fairy tale, so beautiful and romantic. Now Mia wasn't at all what could be classified as a girly-girl, but she _was _still a girl. She hoped that one day she could find her long lost love like that. When the two of them were done with their tea, they headed upstairs to get started on the empty rooms. They started with her daughter's old room first, and Mia had to admit, it was beautiful. The walls were a soft lavender color, and it looked like a room only a princess could reside in, with the canopy bed and the chaise seat next to the small fireplace. Mrs. Brugger had been right, there was not much of anything left in this room, the bookshelf being stripped of its books, and the only thing left on the dressers were small figurines like the ones Mrs. Brugger had downstairs, only these were of pretty ballerinas.

"Emily always wanted to be a dancer when she was a little girl," Mrs. Brugger said fondly, gazing at the tiny dolls. "But then she fell in love with the ocean and everything in it—she's studying Marine Biology in Australia, and I couldn't be more proud of her. Well, we should get moving dear. Need to get this stuff boxed up and put in the attic before you need to leave."

An hour later, Mia and Mrs. Brugger managed to finish their task with placing Emily Brugger's thing in storage for safekeeping, and Mia made the trip upstairs to the attic, which was big enough to be considered a spare bedroom. When she came back down, she saw that Mrs. Brugger was in a different room, staring down at a picture frame in her hands.

"What's that?" Mia asked. Mrs. Brugger smiled and handed the picture to Mia. The young witch looked down at the picture and a wide smile came across her face as she stared at the couple in the picture, a teenage girl and boy. The girl looked to be about fifteen or so, with long blonde hair pulled back, some of her loose curls falling onto her shoulder, wearing a lovely dress. Since the photo was in black and white, Mia couldn't depict the exact color, but it didn't appear to be a dark dress. It had lace along the hem, sleeves, slightly ruffled layers, and little pearls in the stitching around the thin belt. It was truly beautiful. The boy holding her close was handsome, with sleek and smooth dark hair, dark eyes, and wearing a sharp black suit, holding the girl in a gentle embrace, a love-struck smile on his face.

"Is this you and your husband?" Mia said.

"That was the night we met. There was a man taking photographs, and we had our picture taken together," Mrs. Brugger said. "He kept it for all those years until we met again. It's my favorite one. Well, I suppose you should get going dear. Wouldn't want to keep that nice young man of yours waiting, would we?"

Mrs. Brugger ended her sentence with a sly, suggestive smile, causing Mia to roll her eyes fondly. Whenever the subject came to Harry, Mrs. Brugger would always bluntly ask why the two of them haven't kissed yet, no matter how many times Mia tried telling her they were just friends. The woman wouldn't let the subject go, and she had this twinkle in her eyes, similar to Dumbledore's whenever he knew something that someone else didn't and took amusement in keeping it to himself. Mrs. Brugger laughed at Mia's expression and then the two of them made their way down the staircase, with Mia making sure her dear friend got down all right. When they got to the living room, Mrs. Brugger asked Mia to wait a moment while she went to go and get Mia's earnings. Mia placed the strap of her bag over her shoulder and waited patiently as the woman left the room and came back five minutes later, with the money in one hand, and something wrapped up in a cloth in the other.

"Here sweets, I want you to have something," Mrs. Brugger said.

"Aggie, you've given me enough already," Mia tried to protest.

"Take it as a token of my affection," Mrs. Brugger said kindly. "And for being such a good and caring friend to me. I really don't have any left. They were mine, but I think they would suit you more."

Mrs. Brugger pulled away the cloth and Mia gasped in wonder as she gazed at two lovely silver combs in the shape of butterflies, with some rhinestones embedded in their wings.

"Oh they're so beautiful!" Mia gushed. "Aggie, I can't take these."

"Yes you can, and you ill," Mrs. Brugger said, taking the combs in her hand and ordering Mia to stay still as she pulled some of the girl's hair back and held it in place with the combs, making it so her curls framed her face nicely.

"Simply gorgeous," Mrs. Brugger smiled. "That boy won't be able to keep his hands off of you."

"Aggie," Mia groaned, causing the old woman to laugh. Mrs. Brugger saw Mia to the front door and out onto the porch. Mia smiled and gave her a tight hug.

"Thanks for everything Aggie," she said.

"Thank you, Mia," Mrs. Brugger said. "I'll see you on Saturday. And tell Harry I said Happy Early Birthday."

"I will," Mia promised. With another wave, Mia hopped down the porch steps and then started making her way back to her own house in Privet Drive. She fingered the combs in her hair and smiled, touched by the sweet gifts Mrs. Brugger gave to her. It didn't take too long for her to reach her house and she smiled widely as she saw one of her favorite people in the world waiting outside. Harry was sitting on the front steps to her house and when he saw her, he smiled widely, quickly getting to his feet and walking over towards her. They met when Mia reached the lawn and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, holding her close. Though it wasn't unusual for them to hug when they saw each other, Mia was a little shocked by the intensity of the hug, yet returned it all the same.

"Hey Harry," she said. "Missed me that much? You know it's only been a couple days since I saw you right?"

"Of course I did," he replied as he let go of her. "You're the only one who's sane around here."

"Gee, thanks for that," she said.

"I just can't stand Dudley and his stupid tantrums," Harry muttered. "He made a big deal out of having to have the same amount of food as me, so my aunt started giving him more."

"Are you serious?" Mia exclaimed. "Do they really need to fatten him up any more? And what about you, you're almost a stick, you should be the one getting more food."

"Thanks for boosting my self-esteem Mia," Harry chuckled.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Mia giggled and she playfully slapped his shoulder. "How much longer until you have to be back?"

"I got all my chores done, even some of tomorrows, so I don't have to be home until about five to start dinner."

"Good," said Mia brightly, hooking her arm through his. "Then we have enough time to grab some soda pop form the store."

"Mia, I don't have any money," Harry objected.

"That's what you have me for, duh," she countered, as if it were obvious.

"Mia, you don't—"

"Nope, it's your birthday week, you're getting spoiled," she said simply, dragging him along. "Just go along like a good boy or I'll tell your godfather on you."

"He's somewhere in the south, he can't do anything," Harry said.

"I could always ask him to send you a Holwer," Mia suggested with an evil smile.

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me," Mia said. Harry huffed and she giggled as they kept walking together down the street. After about a minute, Mia noticed that Harry was staring at her.

"What?" she said.

"What's in your hair?" he asked.

"Oh," said Mia. "They're some combs that Mrs. Brugger gave me as a gift. Why? Do they look weird?"

"No," said Harry. "They look really nice…makes your hair look pretty."

Harry, realizing what he just said, immediately turned cheery red and cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked away, changing the subject to the Quidditch World Cup they were hoping to go to this summer. While he talked, Mia could feel her cheeks burn at least three shades of red and she smiled shyly at the ground.

_Harry thinks my hair is pretty? He's never said anything like that before… _

**Read and review please! Thanks! **


	2. Picnics and The Burrow

**Hey guys! Okay, I am so terribly sorry this took a while to post, but this is a rare time that it wasn't my fault! Every time I tried to write or work on this chapter, something always came up and I was ALWAYS interrupted with something. But hey, it's finally here, chapter two of the story! This is a pretty long one too, I hope you all like it. I tried to make it a little fun and interesting, I hope I achieved this goal. Anyway, please read on and don't forget to review and tell me what you all think! I got twenty-five or twenty-six reviews for the first chapter so I'm pretty eager to hear what you guys have to say about this one! Any comments or questions, just let me know! Love you all, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.**

Chapter Two: Picnics and The Burrow

HPOV

Harry's fourteenth birthday fell on a Sunday that year, and so far, it was turning out to be quite uneventful. He had woken up early that day, and went down to eat breakfast with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley at the kitchen table. No one made any indication that he entered the room, which was quite normal, and no one bothered to bid him a happy birthday. Harry was far too used to this to care—the Dursleys had barely even acknowledged his birthdays, and he found no reason that they would this time. As soon as breakfast was over, Dudley, who was sour over only having one bowl of porridge and some toast, went to go out with his friends, while Aunt Petunia went to wash the dishes and Uncle Vernon snapped out Harry's chores for the day. Moving quickly, Harry straightened up the kitchen when his aunt and uncle went to have a cup of tea in the living room. Then he cleaned up the bathrooms as well as going outside to trim the hedges. Thankfully the list wasn't very long today, and by the time he was done, it was only half after ten in the morning, just enough time for him to shower before going out with Mia. She said she had a surprise for him today, and even though he didn't really like surprises too much, he was curious to see what she had planned. He was supposed to meet her at her house a little later, so he took his time getting dressed in his room, mostly so he wouldn't have to do any extra chores his relatives may think of on the spot.

When he was all set to go, he still had a little less than an hour before he was supposed to meet Mia. Just as he was thinking about heading over to her house early, Harry looked out of his window and saw, to his delight, Hedwig flying through the air towards the house, with a large package in her talons. Harry quickly opened the window and then stood aside as his beautiful snowy owl came soaring in, dropping the package on the bed with a soft flump. She did one lap around the room before landing on Harry's desk chair, looking proud and dignified with her delivery. Smiling, Harry went over to greet and pet his beloved owl, and she nipped his fingers affectionately before going over to her water dish for a drink. The package was wrapped in gold paper, and Harry tore it off to find a box underneath with a card in Hermione's neat handwriting. After reading the card, he opened the box to see a small vanilla cake inside with white chocolate frosting, with red cursive letters spelling out _Happy Birthday Harry _across the top. Making a mental note to thank Hermione, Harry sat down on the bed and decided to have a slice or two of cake before going over Mia's house. Once it was time to go, Harry placed the cake back in the box, grabbed both that and his birthday card, and hid them both under the loose floorboard close to his bed, where he was keeping the rest of the food that his friends have been sending him. Thankfully he didn't have to hide away any of his schoolbooks or equipment. The Dursleys had been ready to snatch them from him yet again and place in the cupboard under the stairs again this summer, but there was only one thing stopping them—Sirius. As soon as Harry told them that the convicted murderer they saw on television last year was his godfather and that he was checking up on him, they have been scared out of their wits that Sirius would show up and curse them if he found out that Harry was unhappy, or that they were being unfair to him, for Harry never bothered telling the Dursleys that Sirius was innocent, something that still had Mia in tears of laughter.

As soon as everything was hidden away, Harry left his bedroom and then went downstairs, hastily making his way to the door so as to avoid his aunt and uncle. They didn't really have time to see where he was going before he walked out and shut the front door behind him. He walked across the street to number two, Mia's house, and saw Mr. Thatcher out on the sidewalk with Brian, who was riding around on his tricycle.

"Hi Mr. Thatcher," Harry said as he approached.

"Hey there, son," Mr. Thatcher greeted.

"Hi Harry!" Brian squealed as soon as the little boy saw him, a wide grin on his face. "Look at me, I'm riding!"

"That's good Brian," Harry said. "Do you like your new bike?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't go fast enough," Brian said with a little pout. "I want to be really fast, like you are on your br—"

"Brian," Mr. Thatcher said quickly, going over to him and pretending to readjust his helmet, continuing to speak quietly. "You can't say stuff like that too loud, buddy. Remember, no one is supposed to know about Harry and Mia being magic."

"Oops, sorry Daddy," Brian said. "Sorry Harry."

"It's okay Brian."

"He rarely ever slips up," Mr. Thatcher explained as he straightened up. "Even if he does, I'm sure that people would think it was just cute, childish imagination, but we can never be too careful. He's been begging us to get him a toy broom or something for a couple weeks, but Cat thinks he's a little young for one right now. Personally, I think it's a good idea to wait a while, there's no telling what kind of trouble he'll get into. Well, Mia's inside in the kitchen, you can just head right on in—Brian no, watch out for the mailbox!"

Harry laughed a little as Mr. Thatcher took off after Brian, who was speeding his way down the sidewalk and heading off course, straight for the mailbox on the corner. He couldn't help but agree with Mr. Thatcher—there's no telling what Brian will do if he ever got his hands on a broom, even if it was a toy one. Shaking his head in amusement, Harry walked up the front steps of the house and opened the door, walking inside. Closing the door behind him, he went down the hall into the kitchen, where he found Mia rummaging around in the refrigerator, muttering to herself.

"I know you're in here," she way saying. "You can't hide from me…"

"You know, one of the first steps to going mad is talking to yourself," Harry pointed out with a grin.

"Harry!" Mia said, standing up too quickly and hitting her head on the handle to the freezer. "Ow! When did you get here?"

"Just now," Harry chuckled. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find the stupid lemonade," Mia mumbled, bending over again, and Harry could hear her shifting through the contents of the fridge. "My mum made some a couple days ago and I don't—yes! Gotcha, you little bugger!"

Mia backed away and closed the fridge, with a pitcher half full of lemonade and a triumphant smile on her face. She brought the pitcher over to the island in the center of the kitchen, and that was when Harry noticed the small wicker basket resting on top of it. It was open, and Harry glanced inside to see what looked like wrapped sandwiches, some fruit, and something larger underneath.

"Hey, no peeking Harry!" Mia said as she playfully slapped his hand away.

"What is this?" Harry asked.

"Well, I guess you might as well know now," Mia answered with a smile. "We're celebrating your birthday at the park. I brought everything we need for a picnic, since it's so nice outside."

"What?" said Harry, completely taken aback. "Mia, you didn't need to do all of this."

"Yes I did. You're my best friend, this is what friends do for each other. I tried to see if Ron and Hermione could come over for the day, but Ron's mum has condemned him to bed rest for a little while because he has a slight fever, and Hermione had plans with her family today. So it's just you and me. Besides, think of this as a celebration for having three years left."

"Three years left?" Harry repeated, confused.

"Until you turn seventeen," Mia said, looking at him as she poured the lemonade into some plastic cups that had lids. "In the wizarding world we come of age at seventeen, instead of eighteen like in the Muggle world. Didn't you know?"

"No," Harry replied, shaking his head.

"Well, now you do. Congratulations Mr. Potter, you are on your way to becoming a man," Mia announced with a smile as she finished pouring the drinks, put the caps on, and then placed them in the wicker basket. "I think that's everything. Are you all set?"

Harry, knowing that it was practically pointless to argue with her, nodded and then, after grabbing a throw blanket from the living room, the two of them left the house, with Mia holding the basket in her hands. They waved goodbye to Brian and Mr. Thatcher and started making their way towards the park that wasn't too far away from Privet Drive. There were hardly any people there most times, and it was a place where Harry and Mia were guaranteed some privacy. It was a bit of a walk, but it was such a nice day that they didn't mind. When they got there, there were only a small handful of people there, so Harry and Mia found a patch of grass close to one of the benches that allowed them a view overlooking all the little houses in Surrey. Harry laid out the blanket and once they were both sitting, Mia opened up the basket and started pulling out food. She had ham and cheese sandwiches, grapes, cookies, lemonade, and a stash of magical treats, including chocolate frogs and peppermint imps. It was a nice setup, and Harry felt touched that Mia had done all of this just for him. While the Dursleys hardly gave a second thought for his birthday, Mia always made sure to do a little something, whether it be getting him some type of gift, or inviting him over for a special lunch. It made him all the more thankful to have her as a friend. Once they all had their food on plates that Mia brought along, they dug into their delicious meal, chatting while they ate.

"Have you heard from Ron about the Quidditch World Cup?" asked Mia.

"Not yet," Harry admitted. "We still have time though, the game's not until the twenty-second, I think."

"Alex has been keeping track of the teams," Mia said. "He says it's probably going to end up being Ireland and Bulgaria. If that's the case, I'm all for Ireland—they have a wicked defense."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked.

"Alex's brother is one step under Wood when it comes to Quidditch," Mia said, rolling her eyes. "And it's all you boys ever talk about."

"That's because it's—"

"I know, Quidditch is so amazing, it's the reason for living, yadda, yadda, yadda…"

"You seemed to think so when we won the Cup last year," Harry said with a smirk.

"That was completely different," Mia countered, though her cheeks went red. "That was for our house—this is just between countries."

"Come on Mia, you love it as much as I do," Harry stated.

"I love _watching _it, and cheering _you _on," Mia corrected. "There's a difference. You're crazy enough to get on a broom and actually play, I'm not."

"Whatever you say," Harry chucked as he stuffed a couple grapes into his mouth.

"How is your aunt and uncle treating you?" Mia asked.

"The same as usual," Harry shrugged. "They don't really bother with me, I don't bother with them. I'm glad that I have all my stuff in my room though. I hated doing homework so late at night."

"The perks of having a fugitive for a godfather," Mia giggled. "At least you got all your homework done."

"With your help," Harry added. "Honestly, I'd be lost without you."

"I know," Mia said with a grin. Harry just playfully shoved her, causing her to laugh.

"How are those French books coming along?" Harry asked her after a few more minutes.

"They're very fascinating," Mia answered, taking a sip of her lemonade. "Most of them are still kind of hard to make out, since I'm still learning, but I can make out the gist of it. The journals Mrs. Brugger gave me are written by an old painter who lived in the same neighborhood as her when she was a little girl. There are even some sketches in the pages, and they're beautiful!"

"Why do you want to learn French anyway?"

"It's always useful to learn a second language," Mia replied with a smile. _"En outre, le Français est une belle langue de toute façon, et Hermione et moi pouvons tease vous et Ron sans vous les gars sachant."_

"What?" Harry said, completely dumbstruck. Mia just laughed at his puzzlement, and he retaliated by throwing some Bertie Bott's Beans at her. As soon as they were done eating their sandwiches and fruit, Mia dug into the basket and then pulled out a small cake for the two of them, with the words _Happy Birthday Harry _written across the top in blue icing, as well as a brightly wrapped parcel. Ignoring his protests, Mia placed both items in Harry's lap and told him to make a wish before blowing out the imaginary candles. Harry smiled fondly at his best friend and made a quick wish before blowing out the invisible candles. While Mia took back the cake to cut some slices, Harry opened up his present, which turned out to be a box containing a couple bottles of butterbeer, a new pair of Quidditch gloves, a smaller box of candy, a signed poster of the Chudley Cannons Keeper, a book titled _Advanced Charms for Defense_, another book titled _The History and Process of Becoming an Animagus_, what looked like a carved Stag that was as big as about half his hand, made of smooth wood, a new traveling cloak, and something tucked into the corner wrapped in lace. What was Mia thinking, this was way too much! Harry opened his mouth, but she cut across him.

"Let me explain, this isn't how it looks!" Mia said quickly. "There's something here from everyone—instead of a flock of owls and tropical birds swarming your house and getting you in trouble, I told them to send their gifts to me instead so I could give them to you in person. The box of candy and the poster is from Ron, the charms book and butterbeer are from Hermione, the new gloves are from Hagrid, and the second book and the wooden Stag are from Sirius. I don't know what your godfather was thinking, giving you that book, after all the trouble you get into the last thing you need is another challenge. I got you the new cloak and the gift in the corner. I wrapped it in lace because I didn't want it to get messed up."

Harry pulled out the object wrapped in lace and started to open it up, curious as to what was inside. Once he had it uncovered, he mouth fell open slightly and he stared in wonder. In his hands was a small framed portrait of Hogwarts Castle, so beautifully painted and perfectly detailed. All the colors mixed in well, from the green grass to the grey stone of the castle walls. Mia had captured everything, the boathouse, the Whomping Willow, the greenhouses, and even Hagrid's cabin. It looked like it took her forever to make it and it was splendidly done.

"Mia, this is great!" Harry said. "It's amazing!"

"Not as amazing as I want, but I'm still practicing," Mia said with a shy blush. "I know how much you always look forward to going back to school every summer, so I just thought you'd like to have this in your room or something, just as a reminder that every day that passes is a day closer to going back."

"I love it," Harry said, grinning widely and studying the painting for another minute before wrapping it up in the lace again and carefully placing it back in the box with the rest of his presents. Then, without warning, he leaned over and crushed Mia in a tight hug, thanking her again. She just giggled softly and hugged him back. When the two of them let go of one another, Mia's eyes suddenly glowed with mischief, a smirk growing on her face. Before he could even wonder what she was up to, she reached forward and gave him a rough push, sending him flat on his back on the blanket. He was dazed for a moment but then he sent an evil grin in her direction as she shot up and started running for her life.

"Oh, you're done for Mia!" he called, quickly getting to his feet and chasing after her, her shrieks of laughter echoing back to him.

…

MPOV

A few weeks had passed since Harry's birthday picnic and Mia was more excited than she had been in a while, for tomorrow was the day that she and Harry were going to the Quidditch World Cup! After weeks and weeks of waiting for news, Ron had owled them both, saying that his dad managed to get tickets for the game. Ron, his dad, and maybe even more members of the Weasley clan were going to come to Harry's house to pick up both him and Mia. The original plan was for them to be picked up at Mia's house, but Ben and Catherine had volunteered to chaperone while accompanying Brian to his friend Josh's birthday party. So after some arguing and the promise that they had no intentions of sticking around when the Weasley's came for them, Harry had convinced his aunt and uncle to allow Mia to wait with him in their house. Despite not liking his relatives, Mia was a little excited about this. Never in all the years she has known Harry has she ever stepped foot inside his house before. She knew the Dursleys didn't treat Harry right, and she could understand his reasons for not wanting her over his house. His aunt, uncle and cousin could be downright terrible sometimes, and that was why he always preferred to play at her house when they were little. But now, she had the chance to see the inside of the perfect Dursley household, and she would be lying if she had said she wasn't curious and interested.

So now, she was packing her things in her room, making sure she had everything she needed. When Ron had written to Harry the other day with the plans, it was decided that she and Harry would spend the rest of the summer holidays at the Burrow with the Wealseys, since it was already close to the beginning of September. Mia could hardly contain her excitement at this—this was the first time she had ever been to the Burrow, and she kept imagining what it would be like. Harry had been there before, and he described it to her with eager detail, but seeing it in person was sure to be much, much better. Once she had all of her school things packed in one trunk and all her Muggle clothes and extra things in her duffle bag, she was all set to go. She had just closed the lid to her trunk when Sapphire jumped up on the bed and moved closer to her carrier, as if she knew the drill.

"Good girl, in you get," Mia cooed at her beautiful cat, stroking her back once before ushering her into the carrier and closing the door, locking it. Grabbing all of her things, Mia made her way downstairs, where the rest of her family was getting ready to leave. Ben was looking around for his keys while Catherine had Brian sitting on the loveseat while she tied up his shoes.

"Are you all ready to go love?" Ben asked Mia as she entered.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Mia answered.

"Now Mia, you be good and be on your best behavior for Arthur and Molly," Catherine said. "and be sure to thank them again for letting you stay for the rest of the holidays, heaven knows they're going to have their hands full with a houseful of children."

"I will Mum," Mia promised. When Ben finally found his keys and Brian had Josh's present ready in hand, they all made their way out the front door and onto the lawn, where they said their goodbyes. Mia bent down to give Brian the biggest hug she could muster, and she blew raspberries on his face, making the little boy giggle with glee. She gave Catherine a tender kiss on the cheek and laughed when her father ruffled her hair a little bit. They both said they loved her and told her to have a good time in school before placing Brian into the car, starting the engine and pulling out into the street, waving as they did so. Mia waved back before looking out to number four. She took a deep breath before taking her things and walking across the street. When she reached the front door, she drew herself together and knocked three times loud enough for whoever was inside to hear. Not even three seconds passed before the door was opened and Mia smiled as she saw Harry standing in the doorway.

"Hey Harry," she said.

"Hi Mia," he said, standing back to let her in. Mia thanked him and stepped inside, finally looking at his house for the first time. The walls were made of white wallpaper with flower strips, along with a soft blue carpet. The few furniture that was in the hallway was polished and shining, not a speck of dust on the surface. There was a group of pictures on the walls of Dudley Dursley, and Mia had to suppress a snort. They looked like pictures of a blonde, blubbering baby whale at restaurants, theme parks, and in uniform for his school pictures. Just ahead was another doorway that must have led to the living room while the kitchen was ahead past the staircase that was right in front of them. The house was awfully clean, cleaner than any other house that she's been in, but then again, Petunia Dursley did appear like the type who wouldn't stand for any filth or dirt in her home. Yet all in all, it was still a nice house.

"It's about time you invited me over," Mia said lightly with a smile. "I've always wondered what your house looked like."

"Not very much to see, to be honest," Harry said quietly. "Mr. Weasley should be here soon, so we can just wait here in the hallway—"

"Is that them, boy?"

Mia and Harry turned to see Mr. Dursley come out of the living room, with Mrs. Dursley behind him. Mr. Dursley had on his best suit and most boring tie, while his wife wore a frilly peach and yellow afternoon dress. The two of them scowled down at the young witch and wizard, and Mia returned the favor. She knew they didn't like her and she didn't like them in the slightest. But, for Harry's sake, she would bite her tongue and try to be civil to them.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," she greeted politely.

Mr. Dursley just grunted and then turned back to go into the living room while Mrs. Dursley made a face as she stared at Sapphire's carrier.

"What is that?" she said distastefully.

"This is my cat," Mia replied calmly. "I'm not going to let her out."

"Make sure that you don't," she sniped as she turned to follow her husband. "I will not have my house being paraded by a dirty animal."

Mia forced her snappy reply down her throat as she set her things next to the stairs, with Harry going a little red as he scowled after his aunt and uncle.

"Sorry about that," he muttered.

"It's fine," Mia said as she took a seat on the steps. "How much longer until they get here?"

"Ten minutes," Harry said as he sat down next to her. However, the next ten minutes came and went, and there was still no sign of any of the Weasleys. Harry and Mia passed the time by talking, but the minutes seemed to go by very slow. Soon it was ten after five…then a quarter after. When it was half past five, they could hear the Dursleys grumbling from the living room, saying how rude it was for people to be so ate, and they better not be expected to be invited to dinner. Rolling her eyes, Mia sighed and placed her head on Harry's shoulder, hoping that the Weasleys would come soon.

"Why do you always use me as a pillow?" Harry said.

"Because you're comfy," Mia replied simply. "At least you're a better option than the railing."

"Good to know," Harry said, rolling his own eyes. Mia just smiled as they continued to wait, and they could still hear Mr. Dursley complaining from the other room. Just as Mia was going to suggest looking outside for them, at that moment there was a very loud and sharp _crack! _The noise was soon followed by the panic-stricken yells of Harry's aunt and uncle. The two of them got up from the stairs just as Dudley came waddling out of the living room, looking petrified. Harry tried asking him what happened, but Dudley didn't seem to be able to speak, and high-tailed it for the kitchen. Looking briefly at one another, Mia and Harry dashed into the living room to see what all the ruckus was about. As they entered, Mia could hear banging and scrapings coming from the boarded up fireplace on the opposite side of the room, which had fake coal fire plugged in front of it. Taking one look around, Mia understood what was going on, and she had to stop herself from laughing out loud as voices could be heard on the other side of the blocked fireplace.

"Ouch! Fred, no—go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake—tell George not to—OUCH! George no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron—"

"Maybe Harry and Mia can hear us Dad—maybe they'll be able to let us out—"

All at once, Mr. Weasley, Fred and George started pounding on the boards, calling out from behind them.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"

"Mia darling, let us out! We're suffocating!"

"Fred's rear is too close for comfort!"

"Boys!"

It was extremely difficult not to laugh at this point as Harry's relatives rounded on him and demanded to know what was going on.

"They—they've tried to get here by Floo Powder," Harry explained, looking as if he wanted to laugh as well. "They can travel by fire—only you've blocked the fireplace. Hang on…"

Walking around his aunt and uncle, Harry moved over to the fireplace and called out to Mr. Weasley, and the banging stopped immediately.

"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry…the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."

"Damn!" came Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They have an electric fire," Harry told him.

"Really? Electric, you say? With a _plug?_" Mr. Weasley asked with an excitement that made Mia smile. "Gracious, I must see that. Let's think…ouch, Ron!"

"What are we doing here?" Ron's confused voice spoke. "Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no Ron, no this is exactly where we wanted to end up," Fred said.

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," George mumbled.

"Be nice you two," Mia reprimanded, although she couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her lips and she tried to smother it when the Dursleys turned their heated glares over to her.

"Boys, boys," said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think of what to do. Yes…only way. Stand back Harry, you too Mia!"

The two of them didn't need telling twice. Harry joined Mia over by the sofa while Mr. Dursley moved forward towards the fireplace.

"Wait a moment!" he bellowed. "What exactly are you going to—"

Mr. Dursley never got to finish his question because right at that moment the electric fire shot across the room as the boarded up fireplace burst outward, revealing Mr. Weasley and his sons, Ron, Fred and George in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. It was very amusing to see Harry's relative's reactions, for Mrs. Dursley had toppled over the coffee table and Mr. Dursley was covered in white dust, ruining his suit. They both stared at the Weasleys as if they had never seen anything quite like them, a mixture of bewilderment and slight fear on their faces. The Weasleys stepped out of the fireplace, brushing themselves off, and Mia's smile widened. She moved forward and greeted Ron and his brothers warmly, giggling again when Fred and George made their usual routine of sandwiching her between them in a hug.

"That's better," Mr. Weasley panted, brushing the dust from his robes and straightening out his glasses. "Ah, you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!"

Mr. Weasley offered his hand to Mr. Dursley, but he backed away, still staring at the group of wizards as if thunderstruck, with Mrs. Dursley hiding behind him.

"Er, yes, sorry about that," Mr. Weasley said awkwardly, looking over at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see—just for the afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry and Mia. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking—but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the children back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate."

Mia doubted that Harry's aunt and uncle understood any of what Mr. Weasley was saying, but it was still funny to watch their facial expressions.

"Hello Harry, Mia!" Mr. Weasley said brightly. "Got all of your things ready to go?"

"My trunk's upstairs and Mia's is in the hall," Harry answered.

"Don't worry dear chap, we'll get it," Fred said at once. He winked at Harry before leaving the room with George, and Mia had the strongest feeling that they were up to something. She knew the two of them well enough to know when they were plotting something, and she wasn't sure whether she needed to worry or not. There was a terrible tense silence in the room as Mr. Weasley was trying to think of something to say while the Dursleys continued to gape at him. When he mentioned that they had a nice place, Mr. Dursley went purple and Mrs. Dursley looked like she was sucking on a lemon. In a way, Mia could understand why—their once spotless living room had dust and bits of brick scattered all around, and knowing how neat and organized the Dursleys were, Mia was sure that this didn't sit well with them at all. Then Mr. Weasley started talking to them about his fascination with Muggle objects, more particularly with electronics, but Mr. Dursley never responded, quite clearly thinking that Mr. Weasley must be mad. Mia felt sort of bad for Mr. Weasley—no one really knew how much Harry's family opposed magic, or how much they resented him for being a wizard. Not even two minutes later, Dudley reappeared into the living room, probably scared of the noise Fred and George were making while they were bringing Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage down the stairs. Dudley still had his hands clamped over his bottom, clearly remembering the last time he had come face-to-face with a wizard, and Mia shared a glance with Harry and Ron before they all turned away, desperately trying to keep in their laughter.

"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" Mr. Weasley asked kindly. Dudley only whimpered, gazing at Mr. Weasley in fear. It was then that the twins entered the room, with Fred carrying Harry's things and George carrying Mia's things. The moment they set their eyes on Dudley, they cracked identical evil grins and Mia instantly knew that her fears were confirmed.

"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."

Reaching into his robes, Mr. Weasley pulled out his wand (at which point the Dursleys backed up against the wall), and ignited the fireplace with new flames, crackling merrily. Then he drew a small string pouch from his pocket, drew forth some Floo Powder, and tossed it into the flames, making them turn green. He instructed Fred to go through first, but just as Fred was about to move forward, a bag of brightly wrapped sweets fell out of his pocket and were rolling around on the floor. It only took a minute for Fred to gather up all that he dropped before he went through the fire, shouting, "The Burrow!" Once he was gone, it was George's turn, and so he stepped through the flames with Mia's belongings and Sapphire, calling out the same destination. Then it was Ron's turn, and when he disappeared through the fire, it was only Mia, Harry, and Mr. Weasley left.

"You go on now, Mia," Mr. Weasley said. "Harry and I will follow you."

"Okay. See you in a minute," Mia said to Harry before stepping into the fireplace herself, yelling out, "The Burrow!" Instantly, she began to spin around and around, faster and faster with glimpses of grates flying past her in a whirl of colors. It only lasted for a moment before she started to feel herself slowing down, and she steadied herself as she came out of another fireplace, losing her balance and nearly falling to the ground until Fred dashed out to help her.

"Hello there, little Mia," he said with a grin. "Welcome to the Burrow."

Mia brushed off the soot from her clothes and then looked around herself.

She was standing in a cramped but very homey-looking kitchen. There were pots and pans hanging from the ceiling as well as stuffed into the cabinets. There was a large wooden table set in the center of the room, obviously made to fit a large number of people. There was a large window at the head of the table with a few cracks in it, and the sun was streaming in through the colored pieces of glass, making it look as if a rainbow was spilling through. There were books and plants on top of cabinets and window ledges, as well as a fairly sized cooking area. It was a very lovely room, and Mia smiled as she drew her attention back to the people in it. Ron and George were sitting at the table with two red-haired people that Mia had never seen before. However, she guessed that they must be the eldest Weasley children, Bill and Charlie, because they are the only ones she hasn't met yet.

"Hi there Mia," the one closest to her said, offering his hand to her. "I'm Charlie, and this is my brother Bill. We've heard a lot about you from our brother. I don't know what you were talking about Ron—she looks way too pretty and sweet to put you in your place all the time."

"Shut up," Ron said as Mia went slightly pink and thanked Charlie for his compliment. He indeed looked as if he worked with Dragons his whole life, for Mia could see the visible scars and burns on his body, and his fingers were blistered. Bill on the other hand, was different. He was very tall, with hair so long it had to be kept up in a ponytail, and he wore an earring that looked like there was a fang dangling from it. He actually seemed really cool and she said hello to him as well before rounding on the twins.

"All right you two," she said accusingly. "I know you did something, what was it?"

Ron and Charlie snickered while Bill grinned, shaking his head. Fred and George gave those wicked grins again.

"In response for being such a git to Harry for so long, we decided that Dudley needed some punishment. You see Mia dearest, y brilliant brother and I have been working on special toffees for quite some time now. We call them Ton-Tongue Toffees, they can make a person's tongue grow up to four or five feet long, maybe even more, and we figured that Harry's cousin would be a perfect test subject. So I _accidently _dropped them so he would eat one."

"You did what?!" Mia gasped. "Fred! George! Your mother is going to kill you!"

Before anyone could answer, the fireplace erupted with green flames and then Harry stumbled out, falling to the ground as he entered the kitchen.

"Did he eat it?" Fred asked excitedly as he helped Harry up.

"Yeah, he did—what was that?" Harry said.

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred replied, his eyes bright with satisfaction. "George and I invented them, and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer."

The entire kitchen exploded into laughter, and even Mia couldn't help but laugh a little. Half of her wished that she had waited just a few more seconds to see how big Dudley's tongue had gotten, and the other half thought that it was probably best that she didn't. She couldn't imagine how furious the Dursleys were—first their son had gotten a pig's tail, and now his tongue could probably rival Rapunzel's hair. Once all the laughter died down again, Bill and Charlie introduced themselves to Harry before there was a small pop and Mr. Weasley appeared in the kitchen. One look at his face and Mia knew that he wasn't pleased with Fred's joke one bit. He looked angrier than Mia had ever seen him.

"That _wasn't funny _Fred!" he shouted. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," Fred argued. I just _dropped _it. It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."

"You dropped it on purpose! You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet—"

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly, practically on the edge of his seat.

"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!"

Harry, Mia and the Weasleys all roared with laughter at that, only making Mr. Weasley even more angry.

"It _isn't funny!_" Mr. Weasley yelled. "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard—Muggle relations! I spent half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons—"

"We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" Fred protested indignantly.

"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," George added. "Isn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley," Harry said.

"That's not the point!" Mr. Weasley raged. "You wait until tell your mother—"

"Tell me what?" said a voice from behind them.

_Oh boy, they're in for it now. _Mia and everyone else turned to see Mrs. Weasley enter the kitchen, a wash towel in her hands. She was a short, plump woman with red hair like the rest of her family and gentle brown eyes that she shared with her daughter, Ginny. However, those eyes were now narrowed with suspicion as she stared from her husband to her twin sons, whose smiles faltered greatly underneath her gaze.

"Oh, hello Harry dear. Mia, so wonderful to see you again sweetheart," Mrs. Weasley greeted once she spotted them, smiling, before her eyes snapped again to Mr. Weasley. "Tell me _what_ Arthur?"

Mia could see no way out of this for Fred and George. No matter how angry Mr. Weasley was with them, she knew that he had never intended to tell his wife. And with good reason, considering Mrs. Weasley's temper. She can be the sweetest and most big-hearted woman you could ever meet, but if you get on her bad side, it's your funeral. The silence in the kitchen was terrible, and Mr. Weasley hesitated under his wife's piercing gaze. While the silence lingered, two more people joined the group in the kitchen, and Mia's mood lifted considerably as her other best friend, Hermione Granger, and Ginny walked into the room. Smiling happily, Mia made her way over to her bushy-haired friend and engulfed her in a tight hug, to which she returned.

"Hi Mione," Mia said. "I missed you. Hi there Ginny!"

"Hi Mia," the young redhead said, her own smile lighting up her face. Mia and Ginny had always had a nice relationship, something like a sisterly bond. Not as strong as Mia had with Hermione, but Mia knew it comforted Ginny to have someone like a sister to be there for her. Even after the disastrous events with the Chamber of Secrets, Mia never judged Ginny and continued treating the girl with kindness. Mia was about to ask how their summer was when Mrs. Weasley spoke again.

"Tell me _what _Arthur?" she repeated.

"It's nothing Molly," Mr. Weasley mumbled. "Fred and George just—but I've had words with them—"

"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley. "If this has anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes—"

"Why don't you show Harry and Mia where they're sleeping Ron?" Hermione suggested.

"They know where they're sleeping," said Ron, slightly confused. "Mia's bunking with you and Ginny and Harry's sleeping in my room, he slept there last—"

"We can _all go_," Mia stressed out, trying to get him to understand what they were trying to do.

"Oh," Ron said, finally catching on. "Right."

"Yeah, we'll come too," George said.

_"You stay where you are!" _snarled Mrs. Weasley, looking so dangerous that they didn't dare argue with her. Harry, Mia and Ron all edged their way out of the kitchen and Mia threw a pitying glance over at Fred and George before they left them in the hands of their mother. Ron and Ginny led them through the cozy living room and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through the house to the upper floors. Mia gazed around in amazement, looking at the pictures that lined the walls as they walked up the stairs. Just from the inside, it looked like a bunch of small houses were placed on top of each other, held up by magic. It was a curious sight to see, and Mia thought that it suited the Weasleys very well. Simple, yet loving and comforting, giving the feeling of safety to whoever entered. Harry asked them what Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was, to which Ron and Ginny responded with laughter. Ron explained to them how Mrs. Weasley was cleaning out Fred and George's room and she found a stack of order forms for all the things they have invented.

"Joke stuff, you know," Ron said. "Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that."

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually _making _things," Ginny added. "We just thought they liked the noise."

Mia was a little surprised as Ginny spoke. Usually Ginny hardly even says hello to someone while Harry was there, and she would blush furiously. But now, she was speaking casually, as if they had been talking to one another for years. She made a mental note to ask Ginny about that later. Ron continued to explain how Mrs. Weasley went off on them when she learned that the twins were planning on selling the stuff at Hogwarts to make some money, and the fact that most of these products were a little dangerous. She had burned all the order forms and forbade them to make anything else. That, and also being furious with Fred and George not getting as many O.W.L's (Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations), as she expected, Mrs. Weasley wasn't very happy with her sons at all at the moment. Ginny also mentioned how Fred and George told their parents that they didn't want to end up with jobs at the Ministry of Magic, but to open up their own joke shop, like Zonkos. Hearing this, Mia smiled a bit. Running a joke shop was definitely something she could see the twins doing. They lived for pranks, jokes, and making people laugh, it was almost like it's what they were born to do. She imagined them going mad within one day of working at the Ministry and knew that wasn't the career for them. It must be hard on them, knowing their mother didn't approve of their decision. Just as they reached the second landing, a door to their right opened, and they saw Percy stick his head out, wearing a very annoyed expression.

"Hi Percy," said Harry.

"Oh, hello Harry," said Percy. "Hello to you too, Mia, it's nice to see you. I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know—and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."

"We're not _thundering_," said Ron irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" Mia asked him curiously.

"A report for the Department of International cooperation," Percy answered smugly. "We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin—leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year—"

"That'll change the world, that report will," Ron commented, rolling his eyes. "Front page of the Daily Prophet I expect, cauldron leaks."

"You might sneer, Ron, but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with some flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger—"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Ron said as he started upstairs again. Percy, red in the face with anger, slammed the door shut as he retreated to his room. It didn't take too long before shouts and screams reached their ears and Mia winced. She guessed Mr. Weasley told his wife about the toffees. Feeling terribly sorry for Fred and George, Mia followed her friends up the stairs until they reached Ron's room at the top of the house. He let them all inside, and Mia peered around. There were posters of Ron's favorite Quidditch Team, The Chudley Cannons, hanging all around the room and even on the sloping ceiling, with the players zooming this way and that. There were some books thrown about, and a fish tank in the windowsill that held an extremely large frog. The other things in this room were tossed around and unorganized, but it was Ron, so she wasn't too surprised. Close to the window was a small cage which held the tiny owl that Sirius had given to Ron on the train ride home in June. Upon seeing them, the creature started twittering madly, hopping up and down in the cage.

"Shut up, Pig!" Ron said as he squeezed himself between the four beds in his room. "Fred and George are in here with us because Bill and Charlie are taking their room while they're here. Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he has important _work _that needs to be done."

"Why on earth did you name your owl Pig?" Mia asked.

"Because he's being stupid," Ginny answered her, frowning at Ron. "His proper name is Pigwidgeon."

"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," Ron muttered sarcastically. "Ginny named him—she reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that."

"Come on Ron, he can't be that bad," Mia said, smiling at the tiny owl. "Can you let him out?"

"Are you mad?" Ron said. "He's on a constant sugar rush, he's fly all around until he crashes into one of us."

"Don't be so dramatic," Ginny said, walking over to Pig's cage and undoing the lock. The minute he was free, Pigwidgeon started zooming around the room, flapping his wings excitedly, diving so low that Harry and Hermione had to duck in order to avoid him. Mia called out to him, and the little bird immediately went for her, brushing her face with his wings as he settled himself on her shoulder, nipping her ear rather sharply in a way of greeting. Mia just smiled though as she ruffled his feathers and offered him her fingers.

"He never does that for me!" Ron exclaimed indignantly. "Most times I have to jump in the air to catch him!"

"You just don't have the women's touch," Mia stated slyly, still petting Pigwidgeon's head. Ron huffed and told them more about Percy's work at the Ministry. Apparently he's obsessed with pleasing his boss, Barty Crouch, and never stops talking about him. Ron's obvious annoyance with his older brother made Mia giggle as she sat down on one of the beds with Pigwidgeon making himself very comfortable on her shoulder. Hermione asked her and Harry how their summer was, and they both responded gaily. Harry thanked them all for the food parcels and all the cakes they had sent him and Mia told them about the birthday picnic she made for him. She also told them about working for Mrs. Brugger and how she had earned a little over fifty pounds in the last couple of months. At one point Ron was about to ask whether or not Harry had heard from Sirius but Hermione threw him a look and Mia subtly kicked his foot and gestured over at Ginny, silently telling him to be quiet. Ginny looked curiously from one to the other, and that was when Hermione made the suggestion of going back downstairs to help Mrs. Weasley with dinner. They left the room and walked back down into the kitchen, where they found Mrs. Weasley alone by the stove, looking very bad-tempered. Mia was going to place all her belongings up in Ginny's room first to get them out of the way, but she saw that they were gone, along with Sapphire.

"I asked Bill to take them up to the room for you dear," Mrs. Weasley said when she asked about them. "And I let Sapphire out for you, she's probably wandering around the outside with Crookshanks. We're going to be eating out in the garden tonight, there's so many people here we won't have a hope of eating together in the kitchen. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Harry, Ron could you please get the forks and the knives? We only need—oh for heaven's sake!"

Mrs. Weasley had pointed her wand at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off the walls and ceiling.

"Those two!" she yelled, slamming a pot down on the stove. Mia decided now was a god time for her, Hermione and Ginny to take the plates outside, so they quickly grabbed them and rushed out as fast as they could. The outside garden was beautiful, much better than the prim and trimmed up ones Mia was used to seeing in Privet Drive. Here, there were weeds all over that had lovely flowers on the, as well as fruit and vegetables growing in the dirt.

"Fred and George had better be careful," Hermione said as they went to go and find Bill and Charlie. "They're going to make their mother angry."

"You don't think that was Mrs. Weasley being angry?" Mia asked incredulously.

"Trust me Mia, that's only a taste of how furious she can get," Ginny said. "If Fred and George keep this up, she's really going to blow."

"Well, if they have any more of those candies lying around, they better hide them before she finds it," Mia said. "Oh Ginny, I wanted to ask—how come you're so comfortable around Harry now? Before you were always so shy around him."

At this point Ginny did go a little pink but otherwise kept herself calm and truthful.

"I'm not going to lie to you guys, I've had a bit of a crush on Harry my whole life," she said. "Hearing his story growing up, I thought he was a strong, brave, and noble person who everyone knew. I feel a little ashamed now, because it was only a silly fangirl crush. Spending time with Harry, he seems more like a brother now than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I still think he's really cute, but I realized I can't be so silly around him anymore. He is a wonderful, good person and friend, and I'll be happy if that's all he was—a friend."

"That's nice Ginny," Mia said with a smile. "I figured you really liked Harry for a long while. You two would make a cute couple."

"Maybe," said Ginny with a shrug. "If it happens, it happens, you never know what the future will hold. Right now he's my brother's best friend, and my friend too."

Mia continued to smile while Hermione placed an arm around Ginny, giving her a squeeze. The three girls walked into the garden where they found Bill and Charlie making a ruckus by levitating two tables high in the air and making them smash against each other, trying to knock their opponents table out of the air. Mia and Ginny laughed at them while Hermione looked conflicted, seeming amused, yet anxious. They kept on watching even as Harry and Ron came back out, and the fun only ceased when Percy stuck his head out of his bedroom window and yelled for them to be quiet. Bill and Charlie just chuckled at their younger brother but did as he wished, setting the tables safely on the grass and conjuring tablecloths out of thin air. Not even ten minutes later, all nine of the Weasleys, along with Harry, Mia, and Hermione were digging into Mrs. Weasley's delicious cooking. There was so much mouth-watering food that Mia didn't even know where to begin. In the end, she decided to grab anything within her reach and go from there. It was a lovely time, sitting underneath a clear darkening sky, where there was laughter and chatter on all sides of the table. Percy was speaking to his father about the report he was working on, as well as the man who gave them the tickets for the Cup, Ludo Bagman, who worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, as well as a missing Ministry member, Bertha Jorkins. Percy also mentioned a top-secret event that was supposed to take place right after the World Cup, but he wouldn't say what it was, shooting glances at the other end of the table, where Mia and her friends were sitting. This caused Mia to grow curious as to what Percy was talking about. It was obvious he knew about something big that was supposed to happen, and he prided himself in knowing what it was. Mia's eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what it could be…

Mrs. Weasley was trying to talk Bill into letting her give his hair a trim, while Fred, George and Charlie were all talking excitedly about the game tomorrow. While all of that was going on, and everyone was distracted with their own conversations, Ron looked around before leaning in towards Harry and asking quietly, "So—_have _you heard from Sirius lately?"

"Yeah," Harry said just as quietly. "Mia and I have heard from him twice. He seems okay, and I wrote back to him yesterday, so he might get back to me while I'm here."

Ron and Hermione nodded just as Mrs. Weasley announced that it was time for everyone to get to bed, seeing as most of them had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get ready to leave. She asked Mia, Harry and Hermione to leave their school lists with her so she could pick up everything they needed tomorrow along with getting all her children's supplies as well. Everyone got up from the table and lent a hand in clearing everything up. Mia helped bring the dishes in side to put them in the sink while Bill and Charlie placed the tables back from wherever they found them. After bidding Mr. and Mrs. Weasley goodnight, they all headed upstairs to go to bed. When the girls reached Ginny's room, they said goodnight to the boys and then walked inside to get dressed. Ginny's room was a lot like Ron's only much neater and instead of Chudley Cannon's posters hanging on the walls, it was the Holyhead Harpies, Mia's favorite Quidditch team.

"You're a girl after my own heart Ginny," Mia said, causing Hermione to laugh. Once they had on their nightdresses and pajamas, Mia and Hermione climbed into the two extra beds that were in the room and the girls chatted for a bit as they made themselves comfortable. Mia's insides were bubbling with excitement, and she couldn't wait until morning. Today had been a fun and amazing visit to the Burrow, and tomorrow they were going to the Quidditch World Cup! This really has been the best ending to the summer holidays and she wondered what tomorrow was going to be like.

**Read and review!**


	3. The Quidditch World Cup

**Hi there guys! Man, I can't believe this took me so long to get up, I'm so sorry! The family that I babysit for asked if I wanted to come along with them for their beach vacation, and it was kind of last minute so I really had no time to finish this chapter before I left. I've been gone for nine days and I only got back on Sunday. I couldn't take my laptop with me because I had to watch over a two year old, a five year old, and a ten year old while we were there, and I didn't want to risk anything happening to it. So I apologize for the delay, but trust me, it'll be worth it! **

**This here is chapter three of part four, and I really hope you all enjoy it! It's kind of long, but it's the perfect place to end it, hehe, some of you may hate me for it. X-) And I'm sorry I didn't put in the actual Quidditch match, I think it's a bit long, especially for this chapter, and I summed it up nicely so you know what happens anyway. Please, please review, tell me what you liked, and didn't like, the usual. Any comments or concerns, please message me, and I will do my best to fix any problems or mistakes. Love you all, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine.**

Chapter Three: The Quidditch World Cup

MPOV

The following morning, Mia was awoken from her beautiful slumber by Mrs. Weasley's soft voice and her hands shaking her shoulder.

"Mia dear, it's time to wake up now," she said. "Breakfast is ready, and the boys are downstairs."

Mia mumbled underneath her covers, but nonetheless started to sit up in bed as Mrs. Weasley went to go wake up Hermione and Ginny. It was difficult to open her eyes, since they were still heavy with sleep, but when she did she looked out of Ginny's window to see that it was still dark outside, with the moon still hanging overhead, although it did drop a little, getting ready for its decent to make way for the sun. Mia groaned and flopped back onto her pillows, wanting desperately to go back to sleep.

"Come on Mia," Ginny yawned as she stood up from her bed. "Time to get up."

"No," Mia groaned, hiding her head under the pillow. _"Sleeeeeeeeep."_

"Oh, get up," came Hermione's voice, and the next thing Mia knew, her pillows was being yanked off her face and she was being pulled out of her bed by her arm. She threw a sleepy glare over at Hermione but didn't argue. All three girls dressed silently, but quickly, so they could join everyone else downstairs. After Mia was fully dressed, she grabbed her rucksack from the floor, which held some clothes, her wand, sketchpad, a book, and her wallet with her wizard money in it, and slung it over her shoulder.

"What is this?" Hermione asked from her corner of the room. Mia and Ginny both looked over at her to see that she was holding a piece of brightly wrapped candy in her hand.

"It looks like another one of Fred and George's Ton-Tongue toffees," Ginny said.

"How on earth did they get in your room though?" Hermione wondered.

"When it comes to my brothers, I stopped asking questions a long time ago," Ginny replied with a tired smile as she pulled on her shoes.

"Here Mione," I'll take it," Mia yawned as she walked over to her. "I'll give it to Fred or George when we get downstairs."

Once they were all set, they groggily made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, where they saw Harry, Ron, Fred and George sitting at the table, all looking just as tired as they were. Ron was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and George looked like he was slowly dozing off into his palm as he propped his head up on his hand. Mrs. Weasley was busying herself by pouring some porridge from a large pot into bowls and Mr. Weasley was checking over the clothes he was wearing. Despite still being only half awake, Mia was impressed with Mr. Weasley's choice of clothes. They had to arrive at the Cup dressed as Muggles, so he wore what seemed like a golf sweater, an old pair of jeans that were slightly too big for him, a brown leather belt, and a pair of old tennis shoes that looked as if they had seen better days. The girls entered the kitchen, mumbling a hello to everyone and accepted the porridge Mrs. Weasley handed out to them.

"Why do we have to get up so early?" Ginny asked.

"We've got a bit of a walk ahead of us," Mr. Weasley told her, sitting down to take his own porridge.

"Walk?" said Harry. "We're not walking to the Cup are we?"

"Heavens no, that's miles away," chuckled Mr. Weasley. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup—"

"George!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly said sharply, making them all jump in their seats.

"What?" George said, horribly trying to feign innocence.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me! _Accio!_"

Mrs. Weasley had pointed her wand at George's pocket, and before he could do anything, more of the wrapped candies that he and Fred have invented came shooting out, right into Mrs. Weasley's hand.

"We told you to destroy them!" Mrs. Weasley yelled in a fury, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets! Now, both of you!"

Mia watched sadly as Fred and George were forced to empty out all their pockets, handing over more and more of their candies and toffees. It appeared that they had been trying to smuggle out as many of them as possible, but Mrs. Weasley caught them before they managed to. Every time they claimed they had no more, Mrs. Weasley would use the Summoning Charm to find more. They came out of their shoes, from inside pockets, underneath hats, the lining of George's jacket and the turn-up if Fred's jeans. Once she finally had them all, she took them over to the trash and threw them out, causing the twins to yell in anger, saying they have spent month and months working on them, to which Mrs. Weasley snapped that they should have been using that time to study and get more O.W.L's. While all of this was going on, Mia, who had the toffee from Ginny's room in her hand, discreetly placed it inside her own pocket. After that fighting scene, the rest of breakfast was passed mostly in silence. Fred and George were furious with their mother and refused to look at her, and Mrs. Weasley was glowering as she put the rest of the porridge away.

"Where's Bill, Charlie, and Percy?" Hermione asked tentatively after a while.

"They know how to Apparate, so they'll be joining us later in the day," Mr. Weasley replied before checking his watch. "Finish up kids, we have to leave in a few minutes."

Mia and the others finished up what was left in their bowls and got ready to leave. Fred and George hoisted their own rucksacks onto their back and left the house without saying goodbye to their mother, even when she called after them to behave themselves. After kissing Mr. Weasley and hugging them all goodbye, Mrs. Weasley waved as they all set across the dark yard after the twins. Mia shivered as the chilly air hit her, and she wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she had put on her jacket before stepping outside. Harry hurried up to Mr. Weasley and asked him about how witches and wizards can go to the Cup without Muggles noticing. This peaked Mia's interest, as she had been wondering the same thing. Mr. Weasley explained that because there are usually a hundred thousand wizards from around the world that show up at the Cup, the Ministry had to come up with a place that would accommodate them all. So, what they had to do was find a deserted area, such as a moor, and put up as many Anti-Muggle wards as possible, so no Muggle would accidently come across them during the Cup. He also explained how most wizards who can't or won't Apparate to the Cup have to use Portkeys in order to get there. Mia remembered reading about Portkeys in a book she had gotten in Diagon Alley once—Portkeys are random objects that are used to transport from one spot to another at a prearranged time. The nearest Portkey to them was at the top of Stoatshead Hill, just outside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and that was where they were walking to.

It took them some time to get to the hill, seeing as they had to walk through the village first. Even when they reached the hill, they had no time to stop and catch their breath, so they immediately started climbing. The climb itself seemed to take forever, and since it was a pretty steep hill to begin with, Mia was quickly running out of breath, panting heavily as she followed behind Harry and Ron. The grass was a little slippery, and there were rabbit holes everywhere, but after a while, they finally hit level ground, and Mia wanted to faint with relief. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees, trying to even out her breathing, while Hermione clutched a stitch in her side. Mr. Weasley checked his watch again and said that they had ten more minutes before the Portkey was supposed to activate, so they had to find it fast. They all started searching through the grass, trying to find anything that would just look like litter and would easily be glanced over. They were only searching for a couple minutes when a voice suddenly shouted out to them.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here son, we've got it!"

Mia looked up to see two tall figures coming their way from the other side of the hilltop. One was a man who appeared to be about Mr. Weasley's age, with a broad body and a scruffy brown beard. He seemed to be holding a moldy-old boot in his right hand, and Mia guessed that that had to be the Portkey they were looking for. When Mia turned her gaze over to the boy next to him, she recognized him instantly. This boy was Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker and Quidditch team Captain at Hogwarts. Cedric was very handsome, and he looked a little like the man next to him, with his brown hair and rounded nose. He had kind grey eyes and had been nothing but friendly and polite to almost everyone for as long as Mia had been in school with him.

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley greeted heartily as he went over and shook hands with the mam. "This is Amos Diggory, everyone. He works for the Department for the regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"

"Hi," Cedric said. They all said hello back except for Fred and George, who merely nodded. Mia rolled her eyes—they were probably still sore about losing the Quidditch game to Hufflepuff last year when Cedric had caught the Snitch after Harry had fallen off his broom. She nudged them both and gave them a look while Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory talked with each other.

"All these yours, Arthur?" Mr. Diggory asked as he peered around at all the children.

"Oh no, only the redheads," Mr. Weasley answered, pointing out Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's—Harry and Mia, more friends—"

Mr. Diggory instantly did a double take, his eyes widening, and asking if Harry was indeed _the _Harry Potter. When Harry confirmed this, Mr. Diggory had a wide smile on his face, going on about how great it was to meet him, and how Cedric was telling him about the match last year. Fred and George scowled again as Mr. Diggory started boasting on how Cedric was able to beat Harry at the Quidditch game, and how the best man and flier ended up winning. Mia frowned slightly at this. She usually never really took sides in these kinds of things, but in her opinion, Harry was a spectacular flier, the best there was. Cedric was a great flier and Quidditch player as well, but she, along with most of the people here, would agree that if the Dementors had never shown up at the game, then Harry would have been the one to capture the Snitch. Still, even though she was slightly annoyed, she tried to understand Mr. Diggory's reasoning. Hufflepuff usually was never known or recognized for anything as much as the other houses, and winning that game was something to be proud of. Cedric's cheeks turned a little pink and he looked slightly embarrassed as his father continued to gloat, muttering that Harry didn't mean to fall off his broom, and that it was all an accident. This caused Mia to smile a little—she remembered when Cedric had tried calling the game off for a rematch when he saw that Harry had fallen. He really was an honest guy, a good gentleman.

Thankfully, Mr. Weasley cut across Cedric's father, pointing out that they only had a couple more minutes before the Portkey was going to activate. After making sure that no one else was going to join them, Mr. Weasley instructed Mia, Harry and Hermione that all they had to do was touch the Portkey with their finger, and it would transport them to their destination. With some difficulty, due to their backpacks, they managed to stand around in a circle, all of them touch the boot that Mr. Diggory held in his hand. They waited only for a minute, clustered together in the chilly morning air, and when the minute was up, Mia instantly felt it. She felt as though she was being yanked forward on a string, and she let out a shriek of surprise, but it couldn't be heard because they were all swirling around in a mass of wind and color as the Portkey spun them around and around, going faster and faster. She closed her eyes, hoping that the sensation wouldn't last too long—

Before she knew it, her feet were slamming into the ground, and she fell forward, with someone landing on top of her. She heard the boot land somewhere close to her and she gave a loud "oof!" as a second person landed on top of their little pile.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill."

Mia glanced up to see a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards standing in front of them. One was holding a large gold watch in his hand and the other was checking off something on a long roll of parchment. Staring at them, Mia had to bite back a giggle—these wizards were dressed in Muggle clothing, but not expertly done like Mr. Weasley. The one with the watch was wearing a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes and the other was wearing a kilt and poncho. Arthur greeted the one who was holding the parchment, Basil, while Mia attempted to get up from the ground.

"Fred—Ginny—you're both crushing me!"

"Move your elbow, Fred!"

"As soon as you get your foot out of my eye!"

It took about a minute for them to get untangled from their little cluster of limbs, but as soon as they were free, Mia stood up and gazed around herself to see where they were. It looked as if the Portkey had taken them to a huge, damp moor that had a thin layer of mist and fog floating above the ground. The sight was actually very lovely—the sun had almost made its appearance, with gold and pink streamers starting to shoot across the sky and through the clouds. She continued to stare at it as Mr. Weasley asked Basil for their campsite location. When they were ready, they all set off together across the moor. Mia ended up walking next to Hermione, and they stuck together as they made their way through the mist.

"Is this the first time you girls are going to the World Cup?" Cedric asked them.

"Yeah," said Mia. "Yours?"

"My second, Dad took me when Ireland hosted the Cup when I was little," Cedric replied. "It's what made me want to play Quidditch once I was in school."

"He seems to be very proud of you," Hermione stated.

"A little too proud," Cedric said. "I'm an only child, so my parents, especially my dad, want me to do my best in school and out. I want him to be proud of me, but sometimes he's a little…"

"We get it," Mia said smiling a bit. "For a long time I was an only child, my parents thought they couldn't have any more children, but then my brother came along."

"How old is he?" Cedric asked curiously.

"He turned four in June," Mia said.

"What's it like having siblings?"

"It's a huge pain in the—"

"Mia!"

"I'm kidding Hermione," Mia said as Cedric laughed. "Honestly, it's nice and fun most times, but other times it is annoying."

"I've always wanted a brother or a sister," Cedric explained. "Being an only child had its perks, but sometimes it got lonely. Anyway, have you guys heard about this new event that's supposed to happen after the Cup is over?"

"Do you know what it is?" asked Hermione.

"No, I was hoping you guys would—my dad's known for months but he won't tell me anything. Wants it to be a surprise. All I know is that it has something to do with Hogwarts."

"Really? It must be some surprise then," Mia said, thinking to herself. All of a sudden, Mia remembered the toffee that was still in her pocket and she looked up to see that Fred and George were walking behind Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory. Knowing that this may be her only chance, she excused herself and rushed past Cedric and Hermione, making her way up to the twins. When she came up to them, she poked Fred sharply in the side, to which he let out a quiet "Ow!" Mia placed her finger to her lips, telling them to be quiet. Fred and George stared at her in confusion for a second, but then their eyes widened in disbelief as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the toffee. In that moment, the spark of giddiness that had left their eyes earlier that morning was back in full swing, and they grinned happily and gratefully at her. They both opened their mouth, but Mia shook her head quickly, gesturing over to their father. She handed the toffee over to Fred, who hastily stuffed it in his pocket and placed her finger to her lips again, grinning and winking at them before she went back over to Hermione and Cedric.

"Mia," Hermione said disapprovingly. Mia simply smiled and kept on walking. Soon, their group eventually came upon a small stone cottage just ahead. If Mia looked closely, she could make out the shadows of hundreds upon hundreds of tents resting in a field close by to a large stretch of forest. When they reached the cottage, they said goodbye to Cedric and his father, as their campsite was at the next field, and made their way over to a man who was standing in the doorway. Just from a first glance, Mia could tell that this man was a Muggle. He was staring out at the tents with a puzzled yet thoughtful expression, as if he were trying to find out what they were all doing there, and he only stopped when he turned to look at them.

"Good morning!" Mr. Weasley greeted brightly.

"Morning," said the Muggle.

"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"

"Aye, I would," replied the man. "And who are you?"

"Weasley—two tents, booked a couple of days ago?"

"Aye," said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list that was taped to his front door. "Let's see here…ah, there—you've got a space just up by the wood. Just for the one night, then?"

"That's it," Mr. Weasley confirmed.

"You'll be paying now, then?" asked Mr. Roberts.

"Ah—right—certainly—," said Mr. Weasley, moving only a short distance away from the cottage and beckoning Harry over to him. Mr. Weasley was having a little trouble figuring out the Muggle money he had, and Mr. Roberts was staring at them, appearing in deep thought.

"You folks foreign?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Foreign?" said Mr. Weasley as he handed over the money.

"You're not the first ones who's had trouble with money," Mr. Roberts explained. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."

"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley nervously.

"Aye. It's never been this crowded before," Mr. Roberts said as he dug out the change from a tin cup. "Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just turn up. Now, there's people from all over coming here. Not just foreigners, but weirdos too, you know? Wearing strange clothes as well—one bloke was wearing a kilt and a poncho, he was. It's like some sort of…I dunno…some sort of rally. They all seem to know each other. Like a big party."

At this point Mia was starting to get worried. How much did this Muggle know? Was he catching onto what was going on here? Before she could think any more of this, at that moment another wizard popped out of nowhere and pointed his wand at Mr. Roberts.

_"Obliviate!" _he said. Mia watched as Mr. Roberts' eyes glazed over for a moment and a dreamy sort of look came over his face before he smiled and handed Mr. Weasley his change, along with a map of the campsite. Mr. Weasley thanked him and then they all started towards the gate that led into the field, accompanied by the wizard. Mia glanced over her shoulder at Mr. Roberts—she recognized the charm that the wizard had used on him. It was a memory charm, and she was thankful that the wizard arrived when he did. He was starting to get to curious. The wizard was telling Mr. Weasley how he had to put many memory charms on Mr. Roberts due to other's stupidity, and how he couldn't wait until the Cup was over. He bid them goodbye at the gate and then left them as they started looking for their tent. Mia, along with Harry and Hermione, were gaping around at all the tents they passed. Some of them were almost normal, despite the chimneys and weather vanes, but others were so grand and so magical that it was hard not to stare. There were castles that looked like palaces, mansions, or luxury condos, with birdbaths, clothing lines, and porch swings. There was one tent that Mia was completely blown away by—it had the design of an Egyptian palace, with hieroglyphics painted on the sides, and ancient mirrors on columns standing outside, ready to capture the light of the morning sun and shine it through the hole on one side of the tent. There was a young man outside, wearing gold and white robes, who was using his wand to open up the flaps of the tents, allowing Mia to glance in side and see such beautiful drapes and colorful silk on chaises that looked so soft to the touch.

After passing many of the tents, they finally came to an empty space that was fairly close to the woods, with a sign hammered into the ground that read _Weezley. _Mr. Weasley, looking over excited, took off his backpack and looked at the empty space with glee. He told them all that since there was a large number of Wizards on Muggle land, they really weren't supposed to be using magic. So, he decided that they were going to set up the tents they had be hand. He asked Harry about the process, but Harry just looked over at Mia, who giggled. She knew that Harry had never been camping in his life. However, she had been on plenty of camping trips with Brian and her parents, so she had a fair idea of what to do. She instructed Mr. Weasley on how to use the mallet, and with Hermione help she placed the poles and the pegs in the appropriate places. When they were all done, it definitely looked like a group of Muggles were camping out in two tents. But what had Mia worried was that these tents were pretty small in size. Once Bill, Charlie, and Percy come along, they're definitely not going to have enough room. She would be surprised and shocked if they could fit the number of people they have now into the tents!

"We'll be a bit cramped, but I think we'll all squeeze in," Mr. Weasley said as he got down on his knees and crawled into the tent first. "Come and have a look."

Mia was more confused than ever. How in the world are they all going to fit? She watched as Harry ducked down and crawled after Mr. Weasley, then Ron followed after him, then Fred and George.

"How did they do that?" Hermione said, astonished.

"Come in and see," Ginny said as she went in after her brothers. Hermione and Mia stared at each other for a moment before Mia got down on her hands and knees and then made her way into the tent. Once she ducked underneath the flaps and stood up, she gasped loudly, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping open. Instead of the simple cramped tent that she had expected, she was standing in something similar to a three-room flat, complete with a bathroom and kitchen. It was so cozy-looking, and it reminded her of the Weasley's house. There were some objects lying around but not a lot, and there was a wooden table in the kitchen, where Fred and George were making themselves comfortable, as well as an old-fashioned wooden stove and heater in the middle of the tent. Hermione and Ginny were looking around in excitement, laughing with one another and they checked out all the rooms and the living room.

"Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago. Still, couldn't have asked for a better tent for the occasion. Excellent, excellent…girls, the other tent is for you, you should go choose your bunks and unpack. Ron, get out of the kitchen, we're all hungry."

"Yeah, get out of the kitchen Ron," Fred and George said in unison in a teasing matter.

"Feet off the table!" Mr. Weasley reprimanded them.

"Feet off the table!" the twins said, mocking their father as they placed their feet back on the ground but then propped them up on the kitchen table again when Mr. Weasley's back was turned.

"I love magic," Mia and Harry whispered together before looking at each other and grinning.

"We're going to need some water," Mr. Weasley said as he checked an old dusty kettle.

"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," Ron said, peering down at said map. "It's on the other side of the field."

"Well, why don't you, Harry, Mia and Hermione go and get us some water then, and the rest of us will get some wood for the fire? You girls should go put your stuff down in your tent though…"

"I get the top bunk!" Mia exclaimed, whipping around and hurrying back outside.

"Oh no you don't!" she heard Ginny yell after her. Mia heard Ginny and Hermione run after her and she laughed as they chased each other into their tent and into the bedroom, fighting over the beds.

The day seemed to drag on with a high level of anticipation. Mia and her friends enjoyed making their way through the campground as they waited until it was time to head to the stadium. While they had gone to fetch some water, they passed by and stared at the many different tents. They even ran into some of their schoolmates, such as Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor, who was sitting outside his shamrock covered tent with his mother and Dean Thomas, another Gryffindor. They only stopped by to chat for a moment before continuing on their journey to get some water from the tap. They passed by a group of tents that was brandished in the Bulgarian colors, as well as posters of the Quidditch team Seeker, a young man by the name of Viktor Krum. Ron excitedly told them that he was the greatest seeker in the world, and was very popular for his skills on the Quidditch field. Hermione pointed out that he seemed very grumpy, and Mia had to agree. From what they could see in the posters, Krum was an extremely serious and surly looking fellow. He had thick eyebrows, what appeared to be a permanent scowl, strong muscles, a square jaw and dark eyes that warned others not to mess around with him.

Once they had finally reached the tap and got their water, they started making their way back to their tent. They met several more of their schoolmates on the way back, including Oliver Wood, former captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Ernie Macmillian, a Hufflepuff fourth year, and Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker. Mia couldn't help but notice that Harry splashed some water on himself when Cho waved and smiled at him. This caused her to smirk a little—she was definitely going to tease him about that later. After what felt like forever, they reached their campsite. Mr. Weasley had been having difficulty lighting the fire, but with Hermione's help, they managed to get it right. When the fire was hot enough to use to cook food, they made up a delicious breakfast of eggs and sausages just as Percy, Bill and Charlie showed up. Also, it was not very long after that when a man wearing bright yellow and black Quidditch robes came over to them. Mr. Weasley cheerfully greeted him and introduced him as Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, former Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, and the man who managed to get Mr. Weasley excellent tickets for the Cup. He had a bit of a belly, short blonde hair, a squashed nose, and a gay, good natured personality, reminding Mia of a young schoolboy. He certainly had the excitement of one, as he asked for any bets on the outcome of the match, to which Fred and George responded immediately—they bet all their life savings that Ireland will win, but Krum will be the one to catch the Snitch.

"Are you insane?!" Mia whispered to them after Bagman wrote their names in his little notebook and gave them a slip of parchment. "That's all the money you have! What if Ireland loses? And your mother, what—"

"Don't worry Mia," George said, patting her head as if reassuring a small child. "We know what we're doing."

"Have some faith in us," Fred added, giving her a wink.

"Betting that Ireland will win but Krum will get the Snitch?" Mia said worriedly. "That sounds like incredibly difficult odds…"

"But not impossible," the twins said together with big grins on their faces. Mia sighed…there was just no talking sense into them. Not even five minutes, later, their little party had yet another member join in—Barty Crouch, Percy's boss, and the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Mr. Crouch was as different from Mr. Bagman as it was possible to be. He was dressed in a crisp, black and shiny suit with polished shoes, a thin mustache and black tie. He could have easily passed as a Muggle banker, and with just one look, Mia felt uneasy around him. His expression was hard and he had the aura of someone who will punish you dearly if you cross him in any shape or form. He seemed uptight and was strictly business-like, even in the way he spoke. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch spoke for a little while about the hazards that have come along with planning the Cup, and how happy they would all be once it was finally over, while Percy eagerly gave Mr. Crouch a hot cup of tea.

"Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to look forward to, eh Barty? Eh?" Mr. Bagman said with a smile. "Plenty left to organize, eh?"

"We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details—" Mr. Crouch started.

"Oh details! They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids will know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts—"

"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," Mr. Crouch cut in sharply, giving Mr. Bagman a hard stare, silently telling him to be quiet. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."

Mr. Crouch gave his cup to Percy, then he and Mr. Bagman stood to their feet, and, with a short wave, they both Disapparated.

"What's happening at Hogwarts Dad?" Fred asked instantly. "What were they talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Mr. Weasley answered him, smiling. "It will be a nice surprise."

"Come on, this is driving us mad!" said Ron. "What's the big secret?"

"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry seems fit to release it," said Percy. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to discuss it."

"Oh, shut up Weatherby," said Fred, rolling his eyes. Mia giggled at this, but half of her mind was spinning with questions. This secret event that's happening at Hogwarts seems to be coming up quite a lot. It had to be something major! But what on earth could it be? She knew Percy would rather eat a jar of Cockroach Clusters than give away information without his boss' permission, and Mr. Weasley seemed to have fun in keeping them all guessing. She hoped that they would find out soon—the idea of it made her rather excited and curious. Mia was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of someone calling her name.

"Mia! Mia, over here!"

Looking over her shoulder, Mia smiled widely at the sight of another of her friends, Jenna Sterling, running towards their tent.

"Jenna!" Mia called as she stood to her feet. The two girls met in a fierce and tight hug, each one with a beaming grin on her face. When they finally let go of each other, Mia took a good look at the young Hufflepuff—and her jaw dropped.

Jenna was different. Not just different…_amazing! _It was as if some sort of transformation had taken place over the summer, for Jenna had lost a great deal of weight, her skin was more tanned, and her hair was no longer long, but cut so that it hung just an inch or two past her shoulders, and styled so that it was more wavy, instead of pin straight. She wore a knee-length, green and white skirt with a green V-neck sweater and matching beads around her neck, showing her obvious support for Ireland. Even Jenna's attitude seemed slightly different. She appeared to be glowing, her smile lighting up her face, and she more—Mia couldn't think of any other word—confident. She even had a touch of makeup on! The sight was incredible—no longer was Jenna the chubby, timid Hufflepuff that Mia had met in Diagon Alley, but the wonderful, kind and bold girl Mia knew she was always hiding.

"Jenna, you look beautiful!" Mia exclaimed. "I mean, even more than usual!"

"Thanks Mia," Jenna said, her smile growing wider and a pink tinge coming to her cheeks. "I decided that it was time for a little change this summer."

"Talk about a change!" Mia said as Hermione got up and made her way over to them.

"Wow, you look so lovely, Jenna," Hermione gasped.

"Thank you," Jenna said. "I've been traveling with my family this summer, and we went to Greece at one point. They have so many beautiful hills and fields, and I spent most of the time exercising and getting a new look."

"It certainly worked out for you," Mia said.

"And someone clearly likes what he sees," Hermione pointed out, glancing over her shoulder. Mia looked over to see that their friends were staring at them. Ron was stumped, Harry seemed surprised, Ginny was smiling, and, to Mia's astonishment and amusement, George was chuckling as he elbowed a slightly dazed Fred in the side. Mia laughed a little as she took Jenna's hand and led her over to the group.

"Jenna, this is Ron's family," she said. "This is Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Ginny. You already know Ron, obviously, and Fred and George."

Mia couldn't help but feel satisfaction as Jenna's face turned a darker shade of red while she said hello to Fred. Jenna had quite a crush on the Weasley twin, ever since she first met him. It seemed that shyly concealing her feelings about him was one thing that still remained the same. Fred gave her his own greeting in return, getting up and shaking her hand, making her face even more red. Glancing from one to the other, Mia and Hermione shared a secret smile with one another, each one wanting to giggle at the sight. Jenna stayed with them for a while, sitting and talking with everyone, and listening in with great interest as Fred and George explained how they wanted to open up their own joke shop.

"Ah, young love," Ginny whispered.

"Be nice," Mia whispered back, chuckling. "I can think of another girl who used to be so shy around her crush."

"Oh, shut up," Ginny muttered, though her face turned a shade of red that would make any Weasley proud. The afternoon passed by slowly, but soon enough, night had fallen down upon them. Jenna went back to find her family and then Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione left to get themselves some souvenirs from the salesmen that were walking back and forth across the grounds. Mia bought herself a dancing shamrock hat along with Ron, who had also bought a green rosette as well as a miniature figurine of Viktor Krum. Harry bought them all Omnioculars, which were similar to binoculars, only these had all kinds of buttons and knobs on them that made you able to replay actions in the game, slow the players down, and all sorts of things. When they finally had all of their things, they returned to their tent just as a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at that moment, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the stadium.

"It's time!" Mr. Weasley said. "Let's go!"

HPOV

There wasn't anything that could stop the feeling of exhilaration and eagerness that swelled up within Harry as they all made their way through the woods, following the lantern-lit trail. All around them witches and wizards were talking, laughing and singing, such was the atmosphere. Harry himself couldn't keep the happy expression off of his face as they walked, chatting just as loudly as the rest of them. Fred and George started singing a merry tune and they began spinning Ginny and Hermione around in circles, making the two of them laugh. He smiled as he watched Mia dance around with them, giggling gaily. She had put green and white ribbons in her hair as well as green paint on her cheeks. She, along with everyone else, was bouncing with energy, and it was very infectious. The walk alone seemed to take forever, but once they made it through the trees on the edge of the woods, they came face to face with a gigantic stadium that seemed to be one hundred feet tall, and endless in length. They went through the nearest entrance, where the witch collecting tickets directed them up to the Top Box, which must have been like the V.I.P seats. They climbed up the stairs, going higher, and higher, and higher until at last they reached the very top level, with the Top Box on their right. Harry, Hermione, Mia and the Weasleys all filed into the first row and Harry looked around once he was seated, gazing in awe at the hundreds of thousands of witches and wizards in the crowds, and the sheer magnificence of the golden stadium. Harry stared around at everything from the golden goal posts at the two ends of the field, to the gigantic blackboard across from them flashing advertisements. He turned around to see who else was in the Top Box with them, and his eyes landed on a small creature sitting in the row behind them, with their hands over their eyes. This creature was wearing a tea towel draped like a toga, had short legs, and familiar flappy, bat-like ears.

_"Dobby?" _Harry gasped. The tiny creature looked up and peered at him from behind its fingers. Harry knew at once that this was a house-elf, but it wasn't Dobby. Dobby had large and bright green eyes, whereas this elf had brown ones, and its nose was the size and shape of a tomato.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" the little elf squeaked. Its voice was higher than Dobby's and Harry suspected that this elf must be female. Mia, Hermione and Ron whipped around in their seats to get a good look. Although Harry had told them all about Dobby, none of them had actually seen him.

"Sorry," Harry apologized. "I thought you were another elf I knew."

"But I do know Dobby, sir!" the elf said. "My name is Winky, sir. And you sir…you is surely Harry Potter! Dobby talks of you all the time sir, yes he does!"

"How is he?" asked Harry. "How is freedom suiting him?"

"Ah sir, meaning no disrespect sir, but I is not sure you did dobby a favor sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why?" said Harry, surprised. "What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir. Ideas above his station sir. Can't get another position," Winky replied sadly.

"Why not?" said Harry.

"Dobby…Dobby is wanting to be paid for his work now, sir," Winky whispered, as if the mere mention of it will bring disaster.

"Paying? Well—why shouldn't he be paid?" Harry asked in confusion.

"House-elves is not paid, sir!" Winky squeaked in horror. "No, no, no, I says to Dobby, I says go find yourself nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and the next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."

"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," Harry said.

"house-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter," Winky stated firmly. "House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter—but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir. Master—master wants me to save him a seat Harry Potter. He is very busy. Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."

Winky gave the edge of the box a frightened glance and then covered her eyes completely again. Harry turned back to face the others.

"So that's a house-elf?" Ron muttered to him. "Weird things, aren't they?"

"Dobby was weirder," said Harry.

"Poor thing, she must be terrified," Mia said softly.

"That's very insensitive of her master, forcing her to wait up here when she's so scared," Hermione whispered with a frown on her face. The minutes passed by and more people started entering the box with them, including Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Alongside him was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and Fudge tried introducing Harry to him, but he didn't seem to understand English, and only recognized Harry when he spotted his scar. After that, to Harry's great displeasure, the next people who came into the box was Draco Malfoy and his parents. Malfoy and Harry had been enemies since their very first train ride to Hogwarts and they glared at each other as Fudge introduced Mr. Malfoy to the Bulgarian Minister. While Fudge wasn't listening, Mr. Malfoy made a snide remark on what Mr. Weasley had to do in order to afford Top Box tickets, and Harry saw Mia grab a hold of Ron's sleeve when it looked as if he were about to stand up and give the Malfoys a piece of his mind. There was also a point where Mr. Malfoy sneered at Mia and Hermione, but they both stared him down, showing no fear or cowardice towards him. Harry moved closer to Mia, who was sitting next to him, silently daring any of the Malfoys to say anything.

Once everyone was seated, Ludo Bagman approached and, when everything was ready, he took out his wand, pointed it at his throat, and said, _"Sonorus!" _

"Ladies and gentleman!" he called out, his voice rising to overpowering volumes and echoing over the roar of the crowd. "Welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The crowds exploded into cheers, screams and applause, waving their flags frantically and shouting their support for Ireland and Bulgaria. The match started with the introduction of the Bulgarian mascots—Mr. Weasley had explained that the mascots were made of creatures from the national team's native land, and were brought in to do a little performance. The Bulgarian mascots glided out onto the field, and Harry was captivated. The mascots were women—the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen in his entire life! They seemed to float around gracefully, and once they were all assembled, they started to dance. Harry was under a sort of trance, watching these lovely women move around on the field, with fair and brightly lit skin, and long white golden hair that spun around them like a veil. It was like watching gorgeous porcelain dolls dancing on air, and he felt the strongest urge to do something—anything—impressive or daring. Just as he was considering leaping out of the Top Box, he felt a hand on his wrist, yanking on him with force and causing him to fall back.

"Ow!" he said, looking over to see that it was Mia who had yanked him down. "What was that for?"

"For being a complete idiot," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You were standing up and practically drooling. Honestly, you and Ron are ridiculous."

The music suddenly stopped and Harry's foggy senses started to clear up. He looked over to see that Ron was indeed standing, staring openmouthed at the beautiful women as they stopped dancing and formed a line on the side of the field. Hermione reached over and yanked him down as well and hit him upside the head, scowling.

"What were they?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"They're Veela," Mia explained. "They're not really human, although they do look like it. They are beautiful women most of the time, but you do _not _want to get them angry—then they'll transform."

"Into what?"

"Let's hope you don't find out," Mia said. "They have powerful charms that can attract humans, especially men, and makes them do and say the most stupid things they could think of. You and Ron are the perfect example of that."

"Shut it," Harry mumbled, going a little red and shoving Mia's shoulder when she laughed. After the Veela were through, Bagman introduced the Irish mascots, and their performance was spectacular. What appeared to be a great green and gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one lap and then split into two smaller comets, each one heading on towards the two goal posts at the ends of the field. A bright rainbow suddenly appeared and stretched across the field, connecting the two comets together. The crowd burst into cheers and shouts at the display, and the comets connected once more to form a huge shamrock that floated over the stadium, with gold raining down upon them. Ron eagerly scooped some up and then gave it to Harry as repayment for the Omnioculars. It took a minute for Harry to realize that the shamrock was actually made up of tiny Leprechauns, each one laughing and holding a miniature lamp of green and gold. When the mascots were through with their show, Bagman stood to his feet once more, smiling excitedly. He introduced the Bulgarian team first: Dimitrov, Ivanova, Zograf, Levski, Vulchanov, Volkov, and Krum. Each member zoomed out on their brooms and Bulgarian supporters cheered them on loudly, especially for Krum. Then Bagman called out the names of the Irish national team: Connolly, Ryan, Troy, Mullet, Moran, Quigley and Lynch. Seven green blurs swept onto the field to tremendous applause, and Harry was more excited than ever.

"Now!" Bagman shouted. _"Let the match begin!" _

…..

"That was amazing!"

"Superb!"

"Spectacular!"

"Incredible!"

It was now very late at night, and Harry was sitting with Hermione, Mia and the rest of the Weasleys back in their tent, having a last cup of hot chocolate before going to bed. The match had ended only an hour with astounding results—Ireland had won, but Krum had gotten the snitch, just as Fred and George predicted. It was unbelievable to say the least. Krum was easily the strongest player on the Bulgarian team, but while they had one amazing player, Ireland has seven. The game was brutal, yet so wonderfully played out. The Irish Chasers were clever while the Bulgarian Beaters were ruthless, striking well aimed Bludgers at the opposing Chasers with everything they had. There was even one point where the team mascots got into a huge battle on the field after the Leprechauns angered the Veela, and Harry understood immediately what Mia meant. They turned from beautiful, enchanting women to hideous beasts with cruel-beaked bird heads and scaly wings. Mia had laughed at the expression on his face while Fred and George were cheering for the Leprechauns. Harry had been awed by Krum's skill—he deceived the Irish Seeker, Aidan Lynch, twice by using what was called the Wronski Feint, which was very dangerous. Krum tricked Lynch into thinking he had seen the Snitch and sent them both into a dive, pulling out last minute while Lynch crashed into the ground. However, Krum knew that Ireland was winning, and he stopped the game on his terms, so they wouldn't be playing into the night, ending with the score 160-170. It was quite an exciting time, with everyone yelling, clapping, and stamping their feet, and it grew ten-fold when Ireland had won the Cup. He had clapped along with Ron while the girls jumped up and down as the Irish team received the golden cup and raised it high for everyone to see from the Top Box.

Now, they were back at camp, discussing the match enthusiastically. Fred and George were beside themselves—they had won the bet with Ludo and were apparently excited about whatever they were planning to use the money for. They all could hear the sounds of laughter, cheers and dancing from all the Irish supporters in camp, celebrating Ireland's victory. It was only when Ginny had fallen asleep at the table did Mr. Weasley call it a night and told them all to go to bed.

"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," Mr. Weasley muttered sleepily as the girls left to go to their own tent. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating."

Harry and Ron climbed into bed, with Harry getting the top bunk. He stared up at the ceiling for a while, fantasizing of flying like Krum, pulling off the Wronski Feint, and imagining hearing a hundred thousand voices chanting his own name as he flew out onto the field. Smiling, he let his eyes drift closed and fell into the peaceful sleep that engulfed him. However, it only felt as if he had been asleep for a few minutes before he was awoken by Mr. Weasley's frantic shouts.

"Get up!" Ron—Harry—come on now, get up, this is urgent!"

Harry sat up so suddenly his head hit the canvas above him. He was about to ask what was wrong, but then stopped. Something wasn't right…instead of the laughter and singing he had heard earlier, there were now screams of terror and the sound of people running all over. Mr. Weasley ordered both him and Ron to grab a jacket and get outside while he ran out to get the girls. Harry and Ron went outside to see hundreds of people fleeing past them, running towards the woods, screaming and yelling. It was chaos, people running each other over to get away from whatever they were trying to get away from, with tents on fire and smoke rising into the air. In the distance coming towards them, Harry saw a group of marching wizards, all wearing black cloaks and robes, their heads hooded and their faces covered in strange masks that were similar to a human skull. They had their wand pointed upwards, and it was then that Harry saw they were levitating four struggling figures above them, laughing and jeering at them. As they passed by a burning tent, the four figures in the air were illuminated by the fire. Harry was shocked and sickened to see that it was Mr. Roberts, the Muggle campsite manager, and his family. The wizards below were still laughing, their drunken yells reached across to them. They mocked the Roberts family as they turned them upside down, spun them around and ignored their terrified screams. Harry heard footsteps close by and turned to see Hermione, Mia, and Ginny running out of their tent, throwing coats and jackets over their nightdresses with Mr. Weasley behind them. Bill, Charlie and Percy came out of their own tent, sleeves rolled up and wands in hand.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted as his three sons dashed towards the marching masked wizards, along with many other Ministry officials. "You lot—get into the woods and stay together! I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

Without another word, Mr. Weasley took off, his face set, as he went to go and help save the Roberts'.

"Come on guys! We have to go now!" Fred yelled as he took Ginny's hand. Almost out of pure instinct, Harry's hand latched onto Mia's.

"Stay close to me!" he said. Looking pale and scared, Mia nodded, and then the two of them ran after the others as they started making their way to the woods. It wasn't very far but it wasn't very close either. Harry kept a tight hold of Mia's hand as they moved, squeezing past all the frightened people that were running this way and that out of fear, not realizing where they're going. With all the pushing and yelling, it was hard trying to get through and Harry made his legs move faster. The edge of the woods was up ahead, but before he could feel any sense of relief, he suddenly felt Mia's hand being tugged out of his grasp. He whipped his head around to see that a huge group of people were running in the opposite direction, and they were pushing Mia along with them, knocking into them both. Despite his best efforts, Mia's hand was ripped out of his, and he could hear her shouting his name in fear as he lost sight of her in the surrounding crowds.

"No! Mia! MIA!"

But it was too late. She was gone.

**Read and review please!**


	4. Emerald Stars and Helping Hands

**Hi! Okay, I know this is very late, I'm sorry, but it's better late than never! I've suffered from some writer's block, but I managed to get myself back on track! Well, here it is, Chapter Four. I don't think it's my best chapter, but I still like it. There's a lot going on here, so I really do hope you all enjoy it. As usual, any comment or concerns, just let me know, and I will do my best to make it better. Please, please review, you know I love them! I can't believe I already have so many of them with just these few chapters. I just want to shout out to all who have reviewed and follow/favorite my story, it really means a lot, and it's all of you that keeps me going! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Four: Emerald Stars and Helping Hands

HPOV

_"We have to go back!"_

Harry was currently struggling with all his might against both Ron and Hermione, who had latched onto his arms and were pulling him into the woods, with people still screaming and running past them. His heart was racing as horrible panic consumed every part of him, leaving no room for reason or logic as he kept hollering her name.

"Harry, don't be stupid—we can't go back—"

"We can't leave her!" Harry yelled angrily. "Let go of me!"

"We have to keep moving, those wizards are coming closer—"

"_I don't care! I have to find her!" _

"Harry, please!" Hermione implored, her eyes shining with worry and fear. "I'm scared for her too, but we don't stand a chance in finding her in all of this!"

"Mia is smart, she knows to head towards the woods," Ron said, grunting as he fought to hold on to Harry. "I know she'll be fine, mate—she's tough, and she's survived worse than this. We'll find her, but we have to get out of here first!"

Harry barely listened as he continued to struggle. He can't leave her, he just can't! If she was hurt…if something happened to her…he would never forgive himself. How could he let her hand slip out of his like that? The fear he felt was clouding his mind, and he grew desperate as Ron and Hermione kept pulling him into the woods, past the trees. They could still see the Roberts family hovering in the air, and the crowd below them grew even larger. The Ministry officials were fighting to make their way to the center of it, and the blazing lights of spells faintly illuminated their surroundings. The lanterns that had lit the pathway to the stadium earlier were now extinguished, leaving nothing but darkness. There were screams and cries going on around them, and Harry strained his ears, hoping to hear Mia's voice among the many others that were echoing through the air.

"Harry, stop!" Ron said. "We need to keep moving, we—argh!"

Ron suddenly went falling down to the ground, and since he had a tight grip on Harry's arm, he went down alongside him. They landed hard in the dirt, and Harry hissed as he scraped his knee.

"What happened?" Hermione said anxiously. "Are you two okay? Oh, this is ridiculous—_lumos!_"

In the next moment, their small space was lit by the glow of Hermione's wand, and she looked down to see Harry and Ron both sprawled out on the ground.

"Tripped over a tree root," Ron groaned as they stood to their feet. "Sorry about that Harry…"

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," came a drawling voice from behind them. Harry, Ron and Hermione turned around to see none other than Draco Malfoy leaning up against a tree, looking completely relaxed, with his arms folded across his chest as he gazed out at the commotion going on back at the campsite. Ron told Malfoy to go and do something that Harry knew he would never have dared to say in front of his mother.

"Language, Weasley," Malfoy chided. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like _her _spotted, would you?"

He gestured his head over at Hermione as he spoke, and Harry felt his fists clench.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked defiantly.

"Granger, they're after _Muggles," _Malfoy answered, as if it should have been obvious. "Do you want to be showing off your knickers in midair for everyone to see? Because of you do, hang around…they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

"Hermione's a witch," Harry snarled.

"Have it your own way, Potter," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

"You watch your mouth!" Ron shouted angrily.

"Temper, temper," Malfoy taunted. "You really need to learn to control yourself. Where's your little girlfriend Potter? Lost her, have you?"

Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously and his fists began to shake. Malfoy's grin widened.

"You _have _lost her, haven't you? Big mistake on your part…what do you think they'll do to her if they come across her wandering alone in the woods?"

"Shut up," Harry growled.

"Now that's a sight I'd like to see. Thatcher hanging upside down for show, not that there's much to see anyway. Filth like her and Granger always get what's coming to them…"

"SHUT UP!" Harry bellowed, raising his fist and charging towards Malfoy, only to be stopped and held back once again by Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, no, he's not worth it," Hermione said. "Come on, let's go."

"Keep that bushy head of yours down, Granger," Malfoy sneered. "And don't worry Potter, I'll say hello to Thatcher when they bring her floating by."

Harry growled and tried to get a good swing at him, but Ron and Hermione kept pulling him away, taking them further into the woods.

"That arrogant pig!" Ron said. "I bet you anything his parents are one of those masked wizards!"

"Hopefully the Ministry will catch them," Hermione said. "Harry, please calm down!"

After a few more minutes, Harry finally stopped fighting. He took several deep breaths in order to calm himself, and when he did, his felt his body slack, and it was only then that Ron and Hermione released him.

"What if he's right?" he muttered. "What if they do something to her?"

"They won't," Ron said firmly. "I'm sure she's made it to the woods by now. We'll find her, don't worry."

Harry was extremely reluctant, but he knew they were right. It would be almost impossible to go looking for Mia now, in the middle of the wood in the darkness, with so many other people around them. He still felt his worry pumping through him, but he forced himself to listen to his friends. Mia was strong, she never goes down without a fight. She would be all right…she had to be. As the three of them moved further into the wood, they realized that they had lost Fred, George and Ginny, and passed by more frightened people on their way to find them. They walked past a group of teenagers talking to each other in rapid French, and another group of young wizards who were trying to impress three beautiful Veela in a clearing. Also, they ran into Winky, the house-elf who had been sitting in the Top Box with them during the Cup. She was running very strangely, as if some sort of invisible force was attempting to pull her back, and she was struggling. Harry assumed that she was struggling because she didn't ask permission from her master to hide and was disobeying orders. Eventually they found themselves in the very heart of the wood, and had decided to wait there for the chaos that was going on to subside. It was then that they ran into someone else, Ludo Bagman, who seemed slightly pale and had no idea as to what was going on. The minute they mentioned the Roberts family being attacked, he cursed and then Disapparated on the spot. It was quiet once again, and they all took a seat on some fallen over trunks, just waiting.

They spoke about the wizards in the masks, wondering what made them attack a family of Muggles right in front of the Ministry. Hermione suggested that they had been drinking, which was most likely what happened. Every few minutes, Harry would look around, trying to hear something. His nerves were tightening, and he was still worried about Mia. They were pretty deep in the woods now, he had no idea how on earth he was going to find her. He just prayed that she was safe, and that nothing had happened to her. Harry brought back his attention to Hermione, who was speaking with Ron, but then she suddenly broke off and looked over her shoulder through the trees behind them. All three of them listened as the sound of uneven footsteps came towards them, and after about a minute, the footsteps stopped, and it was quiet once again. Harry squinted his eyes a little, trying to see who was there, but he couldn't see anyone or anything by the trees.

"Hello?" he called out. "Who's there?"

He was greeted by silence. And then, without warning the silence was broken by a loud, hoarse voice that sounded across the clearing as it shouted out what seemed like some sort of spell.

"_MORSMORDRE!" _

MPOV

Mia was trying her very best not to panic. Her heart was beating fast due to her anxiety, and she felt restless as she stared into the darkness that was surrounding her. She was leaning against a large boulder in the woods, wrapping up her bleeding palms with a torn off piece from her nightdress. When she had been separated from her friends, the people who had knocked into her pushed her to the ground and she ended up scratching her hands pretty badly in order to break her fall. By the time she stood back up, Harry and the others were gone and she was alone. She knew she had to get to the safety of the woods, so she ran all the way to the trees, hoping that the others hadn't gone too far. Once she was safely inside, she frantically searched for her friends, but she just couldn't find them amongst the vast crowd of scared witches and wizards. Holding her bleeding hands close to her chest, she had wandered into the woods by herself until she found a place to rest and tend to her injuries. So now, she was just waiting, waiting for the noise from die down so that she knew it was clear to return to the tent. While she waited, her mind was filled with worry and concern for the others. Were they all right? Was anyone hurt? She thought about Harry and her worry increased. Was he okay? She couldn't stand the thought of him being hurt, and the only thing that was keeping her calm was that he was with Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny. She knew they would be okay as long as they stuck together.

Yet the silence and the darkness was unsettling, and it made her feel uneasy. She made sure she didn't go too far so she would be able to make her way back once it was all over. She shivered as she thought of Mr. Roberts and his family. How could people think it was funny hovering them so high in the air and making them do all sorts of embarrassing things? And to children as well! It was all sickening to her, and she hoped that the Ministry wizards would catch those masked people and save that poor Muggle family. She couldn't help but think that maybe most of those wizards were like the Malfoy family—ancient purebloods who believed Muggles and Muggleborns were beneath them, and needed to be in their "rightful place". No one deserved that…she couldn't imagine how she would react f that had happened to her family…

The minutes seemed to crawl by excruciatingly slow, and Mia kept her ears alert for any kind of noise. She had pulled out her wand from her pocket soon after she came to rest at the boulder and was gripping it tightly in her hand. After what felt like forever, she was just thinking about going to see if it was safe to return, when all of a sudden, the wood surrounding her was lit with a blinding green light, and she gasped in surprise, shielding her eyes from the light. The light faded as quickly as it came, and Mia opened her eyes to see something green and glittering rise up from the treetops a good distance from her up into the night sky. Another gasp tore from her lips as she watched a formation take place in the sky, made out of what looked like sparkling emerald stars. The formation was shifting in all directions before it took the form of a huge green skull, with a snake protruding from its mouth like a tongue. The mere sight of it sent chills up Mia's spine and she swallowed a lump in her throat. In the next second, there were screams of terror all around her, and she guessed that it was from that symbol in the sky. What was it? Why was it making everyone so scared? How did it get up into the clouds? So many questions were going through her mind, and she only snapped back to attention when she heard the sound of footsteps from behind her. Thinking fast, she raised her wand and whipped around, a jinx already beginning to form on her lips.

"Mia, wait! It's me!" a voice called out.

"Jenna?" Mia whispered. There was a sudden murmur of _"Lumos," _and then Mia blinked her eyes as sudden light came from between two trees in front of her. She saw Jenna standing there, along with her friend from Ravenclaw, Lucy Cannon, and a boy with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes that Mia recognized as Jenna's older brother, Derrick.

"Mia!" Jenna exclaimed as she ran forward and captured the brunette in a tight hug. "Thank goodness! Are you okay? Where's Harry, Ron, and everyone else?"

"I lost them while we were running towards the woods," Mia said. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Jenna—what is that?"

Mia pointed at the symbol, and she saw Jenna's face turn three shades of white.

"Dear Merlin," she whispered weakly. "Mia, that's the Dark Mark…that's You-Know-Who's sign."

"What? Voldemort's sign? But why would—" Mia cut herself short as a horrifying thought passed through her mind. "Oh no! Harry! What if something happened to him? What if Voldemort has him? Oh God, I have to find him—"

"Mia, I'm sure that he's okay," Lucy said, trying to calm her down.

"Stay with us," Derrick said, and the tone of his voice made it sound as if it wasn't a suggestion. "You can't go and run off in the dark, not with Death Eaters out there."

"Death Eaters? What are they?" Mia asked.

"They're followers of You-Know-Who," Jenna explained. "Those people tonight, in the masks—they're the only ones who know the spell to conjure the Dark Mark. Mia, please stay with us, I don't want you out here alone. My parents went to go and help the Muggles, they should come for us soon."

Mia really wanted to find her friends, but she knew that it was going to be difficult, especially on her own. She nodded as Derrick came closer to them.

"You girls stay close," he said, staring at each girl with a firm gaze. "Jenna, don't leave my side—I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Jenna nodded her head at her brother, and then the four of them set off into the woods once again. Derrick was in the lead, keeping his wand out in front of him and scouting the area with a piercing gaze, as if half-expecting something to come bursting out of the trees. Mia, Jenna and Lucy stuck close together, as if afraid to lose each other if they strayed too far. After a while of walking, they came upon the dirt path once again, and they could see a few groups of people talking together worriedly. As the minutes passed by, it was getting more painful for Mia to keep a hold of her wand, so she placed it back inside the pocket of her coat.

"What happened to your hand?" asked Lucy in shock.

"Some people knocked me down, and I scraped them up pretty badly," Mia replied.

"How did you get separated from the others?" said Jenna. Mia told them all about how a crowd of people pushed her away from Harry, and how she ended up going into the woods and waiting for news by herself.

"Well, I'm glad we found you," Jenna said, giving Mia a one-armed hug. Just then, they heard two voices suddenly shout out, calling Jenna and Derrick's names. Mia turned to see a witch and wizard hurriedly making their way towards them, both looking frantic and relieved. This had to be Mr. and Mrs. Sterling—the woman could have been Jenna's twin, if it wasn't for the eyes. While hers was a warm brown, her husband's was a baby blue, the same ones he passed onto their children. They seemed a little beat up, with Mr. Sterling sporting a bruised cheek and Mrs. Sterling having a cut lip, but otherwise, they appeared unharmed. They both rushed over and immediately tugged their children into an embrace, with Mrs. Sterling fussing over them.

"Oh thank Merlin you're both all right!" Mrs. Sterling said, her eyes looking glassy. "Lucy, I'm so happy you're okay, your father must be worried sick! I'm so sorry we couldn't come for you all sooner."

"Are you both okay? Are you hurt?" Mr. Sterling asked, with his hands on Derrick's shoulder.

"We're fine, Dad," Derrick said. "But Mia hurt her hands, though."

"Mia?" said Mr. Sterling. It was then that he and his wife looked over to see Mia standing there, shifting a little awkwardly on her feet.

"Mum, Dad, this is my friend, Mia," Jenna said. "She got separated from the group she was with, and she hurt her hands."

"Oh my dear girl," Mrs. Sterling said, compassion shining in her eyes as she came over to bend down next to Mia, taking out her wand. "May I see?"

Mia held out her blooded hands and winced slightly as Mrs. Sterling unwrapped them. Using her wand, she gently ran the tip of it across both of Mia's palms, apologizing when the young girl hissed. Then, to Mia's shock and relief, the cuts and scratches on her hands started to heal themselves, fading away until they were completely gone, as if they were never there, and the pain had disappeared along with them.

"Is that better?" Mrs. Sterling asked as she used the torn material to wipe away any remaining blood.

"Yes, thank you so much," Mia breathed.

"Nora, take Derrick, Jenna and Lucy back to the tent and pack everything up, then go to the Portkey. We're leaving tonight," Mr. Sterling said.

"What about you Dad?" Derrick said.

"I'll help Mia find her group, and I will meet you all at home," Mr. Sterling answered.

"Please sir, I don't want to be a bother—" Mia started.

"Nonsense!" Mr. Sterling said sharply, leaving no room for argument. "I'm not leaving a friend of my daughter's out here alone. Now come along, the sooner we find them, the better."

Without another word, they all began walking back towards the edge of the woods, no one saying a word. Mrs. Sterling held on tight to her children, as if she feared they would vanish if she didn't. It only took them about ten minutes to reach the edge, and when they did, Mia stared around in disbelief. The crowds of Death Eaters were now gone, and most of the fires had been extinguished, leaving nothing but rubble and smoke. There was also a large group of people wandering about, speaking in hushed voices, and it was there that they decided to split up. Mia gave Jenna, Lucy and even Derrick hugs, thanking them all for finding her and helping her, along with Mrs. Sterling, who reassured her it was nothing before kissing her husband's cheek and telling him to be careful. While Mrs. Sterling took them in one direction, Mr. Sterling gently placed his hand on Mia's shoulder and led her in another.

"Who were you with?" he asked her.

"I was here with my friend Ron Weasley and his family," Mia replied.

"Weasley? As in Arthur Weasley?"

"Yes," Mia said. "Do you know him?"

"Not personally," said Mr. Sterling. "I just come by his office every now and then. Where is your tent?"

"We were pitched not very far from here," Mia said, looking around. "It's this way, I think. Mr. Sterling, what happened to the Roberts'? Are they all right?"

"As well as can be expected," Mr. Sterling sighed. "We managed to keep them from falling, thankfully they weren't physically harmed. Those damn bastards…we should be lucky it wasn't anything worse."

"What could be worse than that?"

"You'd be surprised."

Mia was going to ask what he meant, but then decided that it was probably better if she didn't know. The two of them passed by whatever was remaining from the campsite, and it was slightly hard for Mia to remember exactly where the tent was through all the smoke. While they walked, Mr. Sterling asked if she happened to see who conjured the Dark Mark, but she shook her head, saying that it was too far away for her to see anything. They spent a good ten minutes or so searching, and then Mia gasped her eyes going wide. Just up ahead, she could see a familiar pitch, and there was light coming from the inside of it. A wild mixture of excitement and relief washed over her and she began speed walking towards it, her heart feeling lighter of the fear it had experienced only a half hour earlier. Mr. Sterling followed behind and as they came closer, she could start to hear raised voices overlapping each other.

"What do you mean she's not here?!"

"She's out there alone?!"

"We thought she was with you—"

"This can't wait!"

"I said _stay here_, Charlie and I will find her—"

Mia never thought she would be so happy and grateful to hear those familiar arguing tones. Her stomach doing flip-flops, she rushed forward towards the tent, ducked underneath the flaps, and found herself once again inside the warm, cozy apartment-like space. She barely got a glance of what was going on when she heard a loud voice shout over all the arguing.

_"Mia!" _

The next thing Mia knew, she saw a flash of black hair before she was nearly tackled to the ground, letting out a grunt as she almost lost her footing. Harry held her close against him, his grip so tight it was almost painful. Nonetheless, she held him as well, expressing her immense relief at finding him safe and sound, her fear quickly melting away. She heard many exclamations of her name from all points of the tent, and she felt two more bodies smack into her and Harry, which she assumed to be Ron and Hermione's.

"Oh Mia, we were so worried!" Hermione said from her right. "Are you all right? Are you hurt? We couldn't find you in the woods, it was terrible—"

"Guys, give me room to breathe!" Mia said, wriggling a bit. Both Ron and Hermione released her and took a step back, but Harry didn't. He pulled back a little but kept a hold of her shoulders, staring into her face. Mia was shocked to see that his eyes were shining with strong emotion.

"I'm so sorry, Mia," he said. "I should have held on tighter…I thought—I was scared you were…"

Mia said nothing as she pulled him in for another hug, as if to reassure him that she was all right.

"I'm fine Harry," she muttered. "I'm okay."

"Merlin's beard," Mr. Weasley exhaled heavily. "Mia, thank goodness you're all right, Charlie and I were about to go looking for you. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Mia replied, nodding as she and Harry finally let go of one another. "I got separated before we got into the woods—Jenna and her family found me."

"We found her with our son and daughter after the riot was over," Mr. Sterling said. "She cut up her hands, but my wife was able to heal them. I'm Daniel Sterling, I work as an Auror at the Ministry."

"Arthur Weasley," Mr. Weasley greeted as he went over and shook Mr. Sterling's hand. "I can't begin to describe my thanks to you sir, for bringing Mia back safely."

"It was no trouble at all, Arthur," Mr. Sterling said tiredly. "Please forgive me, but I must be going. I have to get back to my family. Mia, you take care of yourself, all right?"

"Yes. Thank you so much, sir," she said. Mr. Sterling nodded at her before ducking underneath the flap and leaving the tent. It was then that Mia suddenly started to feel tired, and so she made her way over to one of the couches, with Harry right next to her, keeping a firm grasp on her hand. Once they were sitting, he put his arm around her, and Mia took the time to examine everyone else. Bill was holding a bed sheet to his arm, which was bleeding, Charlie had a rip in his shirt, and Percy had a bloody nose. Fred, George, and Ginny looked unharmed, but pale and shaken. Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to be okay as well, although their clothes were a little dirty. Hermione came over and sat down at Mia's feet while Ron pulled up a chair next to them. Mr. Weasley looked exhausted as he fell into his own chair, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Harry," Mia said quietly, turning to face him. "What happened here tonight? What happened after we were separated?"

"It's a long story," Harry sighed, looking just as tired as she felt.

….

The following week was very long and tedious. Once Mia was back with Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys, Ron's dad let them all have a few hours' sleep before taking them back to the Burrow. The minute they had stepped foot in the yard, Mrs. Weasley had come running out in her nightdress and slippers, crying with relief at seeing them all alive and well. She even crushed Fred and George in a hug, apologizing for being so harsh with them before they left. Cups of tea had been passed around while Mr. Weasley read the Daily Prophet, where a reporter named Rita Skeeter had been slandering Ministry officials, particularly Mr. Weasley on not giving out much information about the attack at the World Cup, other than the fact that no one was hurt. Apparently, Skeeter was a nosy and vile woman who would get her hands on a story by any means necessary, and Mia had agreed with Mr. Weasley when he stated that it was a good thing she didn't find out about Winky, the house-elf they had seen in the Top Box. Mia had heard about what had happened after she was separated from the others—the Dark Mark had been conjured mere feet away from Harry, Ron and Hermione, and it was done by Harry's own wand, which he had lost at some point after the match. Ministry officials showed up, along with Mr. Weasley, and her friends had to explain that they didn't conjure the mark, and that they heard someone shout a spell.

The officials had found Winky stunned behind the nearby bushes and it turns out that she was Mr. Crouch's elf. It was proved that someone must had conjured the Dark Mark with Harry's wand and then Dissaparated, leaving poor Winky to come across the wand moments later and pick it up just before the officials stunned her. Mr. Crouch had been furious that Winky disobeyed his orders to stay at the campsite and then ended up freeing her from her service by giving her clothes. Hermione was enraged at this—the way they were treating Winky was horrible, especially by Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. She went on in a rant about how cruel house-elves were treated by wizards, and that they should have fair rights.

So now they were safely back at the Burrow, trying to make fun of the last days of their summer holidays, although it wasn't easy. Because of all the mayhem Rita Skeeter started, the Ministry had been receiving non-stop complaints and hate mail from witches and wizards all over Britain. Mr. Weasley and Percy would leave the house every morning before breakfast and come back well after dinner late at night. Mia felt so terribly sorry for them. They both seemed so exhausted, and seemed ready to fall where they stood from being overworked and drained of energy. Mia herself was still slightly on edge and uneasy about what had happened at the World cup. According to Mr. Weasley, the Dark Mark had not been seen for thirteen years, ever since Voldemort's downfall, and it was only cast when he or his Death Eaters had killed. It was enough to scare anyone, but what made Mia really worried was that it was somehow connected to Harry's dreams.

On the night they returned from the Cup, Harry had told her, Ron and Hermione about the dream he had the other day in privacy. He told them that he actually saw Voldemort and Wormtail (aka Peter Pettigrew) and that they were plotting to kill someone, and their plan was to be set in motion after the Quidditch Cup had taken place. Harry had woken up from the dream with his scar hurting, and once he said that, Hermione and Ron went into panic mode. Mia was a little calmer about it, but no less worried. Harry's scar only hurt when Voldemort was close by, and having it hurt now was dangerous to think about. He informed them that he had sent Sirius a letter about it, and until he could get back to them with any advice, none of them could understood what this all meant, and how it was connected.

Yet, not everything was all gloom and doom. A couple days after the attack, Mia's parents had brought Brian over to the Burrow, and the second Catherine had set eyes on her she yanked her into her arms and refused to let go for several minutes. Mrs. Weasley, who had become good friends with Catherine and Ben, had informed them of what had happened at the Cup and they were anxious to come over to see for themselves that Mia, as well as Harry, was all right. After saying a million times that they were fine, they stayed for lunch and afternoon tea, while the twins and Charlie took Brian to play outside, under the watchful eye of their mother. Mrs. Weasley had also bought all of their school supplies at Diagon Alley and placed everything in their rooms. Reading over their lists, Mia was surprised to see that this year they would be needing something completely different.

"Dress robes?" she said on the night before they were supposed to leave. "Why on earth do we need dress robes?"

"Beats me," Ginny shrugged as she was sorting through her books. "Dress robes are really only used for formal parties, you know? My dad has a few for important Ministry parties."

"Do you think that Hogwarts is hosting some kind of party?" Hermione asked curiously. "Could that be the special event they were talking about?"

"It might be," Mia answered slowly. "Where can we buy dress robes though?"

"Places like Madame Malkins and other clothing shops," Ginny replied. "I know they have one in Hogsmeade, so we can go shopping there. My mum already bought Harry and Ron's robes—just do yourself a favor and don't mention Ron's robes in front of him."

"Wouldn't it be something if Hogwarts was hosting a party?" Mia said with a smile. "And to go dress shopping? That would be amazing!"

"Doesn't sound like much to me," said Hermione.

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"Well, um…I'm not really one for dresses," Hermione muttered, her face going a little pink. "Or parties for that matter."

"Oh no you don't missy," Mia said, grinning. "If there's a party you are most certainly going, and I'll make sure you're the most beautiful person there, too."

Hermione didn't comment, but her face turned a lovely shade of red and she glared when Ginny and Mia started to laugh. At that moment, Mrs. Weasley walked inside, carrying some fresh laundry, and looking a little disgruntled.

"Are you okay, Mum?" Ginny asked, seeing her expression.

"I'm fine, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "Your brother's just not very happy with the robes I had to buy him."

"He'll get over it," Ginny said, seeming slightly miffed that her brother could be so tactless.

"What are you girls laughing at anyway?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she placed the laundry on the appropriate beds.

"Hermione doesn't like the fact that we're going to force her into a dress if Hogwarts is hosting a party," Mia replied, grinning evilly at Hermione, who had once again gone red. Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"Well, I believe that whatever Hogwarts had in mind, you girls will certainly enjoy yourselves," she said.

"Mum, can you at least tell us what the dress robes are for?" Ginny asked.

"I can't, you're all smart enough to figure it out if I say anything," Mrs. Weasley answered simply. "By the way, Ginny, I have your dress right here."

Mrs. Weasley reached towards the bottom of Ginny's pile of clothes and pulled out a neatly folded bundle of material. She carefully unfolded it and let it flow to the floor. Mia saw Ginny's eyes widen—the dress was actually very nice. It was a pretty, rosy pink color, with a second layer made of mint green, see-through material with matching sleeves covering the top of her shoulders, and a fuchsia sash tied loosely around the waist. It was obvious that the dress wasn't the most fashionable one in the market. In fact, it looked like something that might have been popular quite a few years ago, but it was still pretty, and Mia was positive that Ginny would look amazing in it.

"Wow Mum, it's great," Ginny said, smiling as she got up from her bed and taking the material in her hands, looking it over. "Thank you so much."

"I know it's a bit on the old side, but it's in wonderful condition," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'd like you to try it on so I can see what alterations need to be made, that way it will be ready for you in time."

"In time for what?" Mia tried asking.

"Not going to work, sweetie," Mrs. Weasley chuckled. "Come on Ginny, you can try it on in mine and your father's room."

"I'll be right back," Ginny said as she and her mother left the room.

"Wouldn't it be something, though?" Mia asked. "To wear beautiful dresses and dance through the night like princesses, on the arms of true gentlemen?"

"That does sound rather nice," Hermione admitted. "But I don't know how to dance."

"Neither do I," said Mia. "But we could learn together. I just can't wait to figure out what the surprise event is, and what this party has to do with it."

Hermione and Mia continued chatting until Ginny came back, and they asked her what she thought of the dress. Ginny told them that while she did have something a little newer, she was happy and content with the dress her mother had bought for her. The girls then changed into their pajamas and stayed up for a bit longer, just talking and laughing until they all became too tired and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, Mia woke up earlier than Hermione and Ginny, and, wanting to let them sleep longer, she quietly got dressed and then headed downstairs. When she walked into the kitchen, she found Mrs. Weasley at the stove, cooking up some eggs with potatoes and toast.

"Good morning Mia," she greeted. "Looks like you're the first one up."

"Morning Mrs. Weasley," Mia yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Don't worry, as soon as the boys smell food I'm sure they'll be down."

"Well, since you're here first, you get first dibs," Mrs. Weasley said. She dished out some food on a plate before placing it down on the table and gesturing for Mia to sit, which she did. As she ate, Mia listened to the sounds of the wind and rain blowing against the house. It had started last night, and had gotten heavier as they all slept. While she sipped her orange juice, Mia saw Sapphire entering the kitchen from the living room, with Crookshanks behind her. Sapphire jumped up onto the seat next to her and Crookshanks started making his way upstairs.

"And where have you two been all night?" Mia asked slyly. If cats could roll their eyes, she was sure Sapphire would have. The feline gave her a look before rubbing her head against her thigh and making herself comfortable on the seat.

"Are you all packed Mia?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes, Hermione, Ginny and I made sure we had everything last night," Mia answered.

Mrs. Weasley nodded in approval and was about to say something, but at that moment they heard a loud and sudden, "Molly!" Mia gave a small jump of surprise and stared all around, trying to figure out who had spoken. When she glanced over the fireplace, she had to do a double take and she nearly fell out of her seat in shock. Inside the fireplace was a head—an actual floating head—surrounded by green flames. Mia recognized the head as belonging to Cedric's dad, Amos Diggory.

"Molly," Mr. Diggory said urgently. "I'm so sorry, but I need to speak to Arthur—it's important, something's happened with Mad-Eye…"

"I'll go and fetch him," Mrs. Weasley said quickly, hurrying out of the room. Mia continued to stare as Mr. Diggory turned towards her.

"Hello there," he said. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your breakfast."

"You're head is in the fire," Mia said blankly. Mr. Diggory allowed himself a smile and a slight chuckle.

"I'm guessing you never knew we could also communicate by Floo as well?" he asked. Mia wordlessly shook her head just as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both came into the kitchen.

"Amos," Mr. Weasley said as he got down on his knees beside the fire. "What's happened."

"It's Mad-Eye," Amos replied, shaking his head. "He's up to it again."

Mr. Weasley groaned.

"Exactly what I said. You might want to get a quill for this Arthur, he's sure done it now…"

Mia watched on as Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory kept on talking while Mrs. Weasley scurried around trying to find a quill and parchment. Mr. Diggory was saying how Mad-Eye, whoever that was, had gotten into trouble for bewitching his dustbins and alerting Muggle neighbors, causing them to contact the police. Apparently he claimed there was an intruder on his property and he enchanted the dustbins to scare them off, but Mr. Diggory didn't seem to take this news very seriously. The Improper Use of Magic Department was sure to get involved, and with Mad-Eye's record, he was going to be in trouble. Mia was so into their conversation that she didn't notice someone come up behind her until they grabbed onto her sides, making her squeal and tumble to the floor. She heard four snorts of laughter and glared the four boys who had entered the kitchen.

"Harry! That wasn't funny!" she said, standing up and smacking him on the arm.

"Yes it was," Ron snickered. "I don't think I've ever seen you jump that high."

"Shut up or I'll throw you outside to make mud pies with the garden gnomes," Mia threatened.

"Kids, please!" said Mr. Weasley. "Amos, Mad-Eye didn't attack anyone did he?"

"I'll bet he sent off jinxes in every direction once he jumped out of bed," Mr. Diggory replied. "And he's starting his new job today too…Arthur, you need to get down there…"

"I'll right, I'm leaving now," Mr. Weasley as he straightened up. Mr. Diggory's head disappeared from the fire and Mr. Weasley started saying a hurried goodbye to everyone, even shouting up to Bill, Charlie, Percy, Hermione and Ginny. After reassuring him that she could handle getting them to King's Cross, Mrs. Weasley kissed her husband goodbye before he Disapparated, just as Bill and Charlie entered.

"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What is he up to now?"

"He says someone's tried to break into his house," Mrs. Weasley said, starting to put all their food on plates.

"Good old Mad-Eye, always the paranoid one," Charlie said, rolling his eyes. "Probably seeing dark wizards all over the place in his old age, the poor nutter."

"Your father's very fond of him, and he's close to Dumbledore," Mrs. Weasley said sternly.

"Yeah, well Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" Fred muttered quietly as his mother left the room. "Birds of a feather, those two…"

Who is this Mad-Eye?" Mia asked. "Surely that can't be his real name."

"No, his name's Alastor Moody," Bill explained. "He's retired now, used to be one of the best Aurors the Ministry's ever had, though it is rumored he's going a bit bonkers now. I'm sure he's fine, just acted first before thinking. Doesn't really trust anyone anymore."

Once Hermione and Ginny came downstairs, they all finished their breakfast before heading upstairs to grab their things and bring them out front. Mrs. Weasley had braved calling three Muggle taxi cabs to take them to King's Cross Station in London. Bill and Charlie decided to come along with them to see them off, but Percy didn't, claiming he had important work to do and had to leave for the Ministry. It took quite a while, and they all had large school trunks, two cats, and two owls, one of which was making such a loud racket, flying madly around in his cage. Also, at one point, Fred dropped his trunk and it opened, sending off some small fireworks which whizzed this way and that, scaring the daylights out of poor Crookshanks and Sapphire, which resulted in may people, including the taxi drivers, to be severely scratched up. Mia held Sapphire in her arms during the uncomfortable drive to the station, speaking softly to her and trying to calm her down. Eventually it worked, and Sapphire was curled up against Mia's chest, finally relaxed. The journey seemed to take forever, and they were all so very relieved when they reached the station and got out of the cars. The rain had gotten even more heavy, and they all quickly got soaked while transferring their luggage from the cabs to the inside of the building. Mia scowled down at her wet clothes and used a hair tie to pull back her long, now drenched locks to keep it out of her face. Once they got themselves trolleys, they made their way down to platforms nine and ten, where they came upon the barrier that would lead them to platform nine and three quarters. Mia and Ginny went first, soon followed by Harry, Ron and Hermione, and then Bill, Charlie, and Mrs. Weasley.

The sight of the scarlet steam engine greeted them as they crossed over, and Mia couldn't help but smile. She always felt a sense of euphoria when it was time for them to go back. Despite all the bad things that have happened in the past, Hogwarts still felt like home, and it always would. Thankfully it didn't take long for them to find a compartment, and as soon as they all loaded their luggage and pets onto it, they hopped back off in order to say goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and her eldest sons.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," Charlie said as he hugged Ginny goodbye.

"Why?" asked Fred keenly.

"You'll see," Charlie answered with a grin. "Just don't tell Percy I told you…it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," Bill said, looking almost wistfully at the train.

"Why?" said George impatiently.

"You're going to have an interesting year," Bill simply said. "I may even get time off to see some of it…"

"See some of _what?_" said Ron and Mia together. Bill just smiled as the warning whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley ushered them all onto the train. Mia and the others climbed on board, shut the door behind them, and then opened the window so they could lean out.

"Thanks for having us over, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said.

"Yeah it was amazing," Mia added with a smile of gratitude. "We had a lot of fun."

"I'm very glad," Mrs. Weasley said. "It was nothing dears, you two and Harry are always welcome in our home. I'd invite you all to come back for Christmas, but I'll expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with…one thing and another."

"Mum! What do you three know that we don't?" Ron asked, almost pleadingly.

"You'll find out this evening, I expect," Mrs. Weasley replied, smiling widely. "It's going to be very exciting. Mind you, I'm very glad they changed the rules—"

"_What rules?" _Harry, Ron, Red and George all said together. But Mrs. Weasley, nor Bill or Charlie, would budge, and they just smiled and waved as the Hogwarts Express started to pull away from the platform. Fred yelled at them, asking what was happening at Hogwarts, but soon enough, they rounded the corner, and the three Weasleys fell out of sight. Now Mia's mind was more curious and frustrated than ever before. What was the big secret? What was supposed to be going on at Hogwarts this year?

Well, whatever it was, she just hoped that it wasn't anything dangerous…

**Read and review please! **


	5. Tournaments, Ferrets and Magic Scrolls

**Hi there guys, I missed you all so very much. I know it's been a while, but hey, life gets in the way of things, and unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it. Anyway, I'm happy to give to you all chapter five of my story! Also, I just wanted to address some concerns that some of you have voiced out. I understand that some of you are upset with the sudden change that I made Jenna go through. I know it seems odd, but please, please believe me when I say that the reason for her drastic change will be revealed later in the story, I even have a small clue in this chapter about it. Trust me, I've gone over this plan of mine over and over in my head, and this was the only way I could think of to add a touch of reality to Mia's school days. You'll probably understand when the time comes. **

**And I know that you guys are also looking for a flaw in Mia, and it took me a while to think of it (creating flaws for characters is a whole lot harder than I thought), but it probably will not be seen until around the Yule Ball. I did notice that Mia seems to be becoming too much of a perfect character, so I do intend to fix that. I'm not even sure if my flaw will be enough, so if you guys want, could you give me some ideas for flaws? Because this really is hard…**

**Anyway, I'm so glad that you are all enjoying the story so much! I've never thought I would even get this far, and it's thanks to ALL OF YOU! Your praise as well as your criticisms has helped my series so much, and that means more to me than anything. So I want to give you all a big hug and kiss as thanks for all your support! I do hope you guys like this chapter, I didn't think much of it, but I tried to put my own flare in it, like always. Please review, let me know how you liked it, and message me with any concerns! Enjoy my lovelies! **

**Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are not mine. **

Chapter Five: Tournaments, Ferrets and Magic Scrolls

MPOV

The train ride to Hogwarts wasn't the most pleasant. The rain outside seemed to have no intention of lightening up anytime soon, and the sky was so dark they had to turn on the lanterns in the compartments around midday. After a few minutes they had to shut their compartment door because unfortunately they could hear Malfoy's distasteful voice coming from the compartment next to theirs, and Mia really didn't want to have to listen to it the whole way to school. But from what they heard, Malfoy had almost gone to another wizarding school, Durmstrang, up north, but his mother didn't want him to go so far. Mia and Hermione were both very put out by this—they wished he had gone so they wouldn't have to deal with him. However, their hopeful wishes of ignoring him were faltered just a few hours later, when Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, had dropped in on them. He had overheard them talking about the Quidditch Cup match with their fellow Gryffindors who had looked in on them, Seamus, Dean and Neville, and of course Malfoy didn't pass up the chance to mention that it was probably the first and last time Ron and his family would ever be in the Top Box. Then, to make things worse, Malfoy saw Ron's dress robes (which he had thrown over Pig's cage), and grabbed it, holding the lacy, maroon colored material for all to see. After one final taunt of how he supposedly knew what was going on at Hogwarts, Malfoy and his friends left their compartment, all laughing loudly, and putting Ron in a very bad mood for the rest of the trip.

All in all, Mia had never been happier when it was announced that they would be arriving at Hogwarts in just ten minutes. Mia and Hermione left the compartment to go and change into their school robes in the bathrooms, and on their way back, they passed by Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, and a couple of her friends. Mia grinned a bit—she remembered Harry's reaction when he saw her at the World Cup, and she had completely forgotten about it until now.

"Hi Cho," Mia greeted as they passed, giving a small wave.

"Hello Mia," Cho greeted as well, looking only slightly confused at the gesture. "Hello Hermione."

"You know Cho?" Hermione asked after they passed the group of girls.

"Not really," Mia answered with a devious smile. "I just have it on good authority that our little Harry may have taken a great fancy to her."

"Really?" said Hermione, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm not really surprised—she's very pretty, and an excellent Quidditch player. I guess that's why he acted a little strangely when he saw her at the Cup?"

"It seems so," Mia said. "And I am definitely taking that to its full advantage."

"Mia, be nice," Hermione said with a stern look.

"I'm always nice to him, Mione," Mia stated with a wink. "I only tease out of love."

"For Merlin's sake," Hermione groaned with an eye roll. "You are impossible."

"It's a gift," Mia giggled. When they finally got back to the compartment, all the boys were dressed and it looked like Seamus and Dean were on their way out.

"We'll see you guys at the feast," Seamus said as he moved through the doorway.

"Hey Harry," Mia said with a wicked smirk. "We passed by your little crush on the way back here."

"Wait, what? Seamus said, stopping mid step and causing Dean to walk into him. "Harry has a crush?"

"No!" Harry said, glaring at Mia while his cheeks went slightly red.

"Who is it Harry?" Dean asked.

"No one that concerns you, now out!" Hermione replied as she pushed both boys out of the compartment and slid the door shut.

"You like someone Harry?" Ron asked, his bad mood temporarily forgotten. "Who?"

"It's nothing," Harry muttered, his face burning brighter. Mia giggled at him, to which he continued to glare at her.

"Who is it Mia?" Ron asked.

"I'm not telling you," she said.

"What? Then why bother bringing it up?"

"Because now I can tease Harry about it in private and keep you guessing," Mia said simply with a proud look on her face. Harry glowered at her and gave her a shove, making her laugh.

"I should have just left you buried in the sandbox when we were little," he said.

"Well, you didn't, and now you have to pay the consequences," Mia said brightly just as the train came to a stop.

"Harry, what were you thinking?" Ron chuckled with a grin.

"Obviously I wasn't," Harry muttered, though Mia could see the corner of his mouth twitch as if he were suppressing a smile.

"All right you four, let's get going," Hermione said as she shut up Crookshanks' wicker carrier nice and tight. Mia looked out of the window and made a face. It was still pouring outside, and she knew there was no way they were going to make it up to the castle without getting soaked. Neville hastily placed his toad Trevor inside the pocket of his robes and then once they were all set, they opened the door and then stepped out onto the platform, heads bent and eyes narrowed through the thick, heavy curtain of rain. It didn't even take half a minute for them all to get drenched and Mia pulled her robes closer to her in a futile attempt to get a little warmer. She watched as Harry shouted hello to Hagrid, who was getting ready to lead the first years up to Hogwarts by taking them across the lake, and she suddenly felt extreme sympathy for them. There was no way she would ever want to travel across the lake in this kind of weather. She and her friends all hurried out of the station to where the hundred horseless carriages were waiting to take them up to the school. Mia, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville all clamored into one when they reached the front of the line and Mia sighed with relief at being out of the rain, at least for a little while. It was a bumpy ride up to the castle, but they made it, and they dashed up the stone steps to the oak front doors as soon as they stepped out of the carriage.

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere. "If that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak—ARGGH!"

Mia gasped as a large, red, water filled balloon seemed to come in out of nowhere and land right on top of Ron's head, making him even more wet than he already was. Before any of them could react, Mia felt something land on her head as well, and she yelled in surprise and annoyance as her entire head got soaked.

"PEEVES!" shouted a voice in fury. "Peeves come down here at ONCE!"

Wiping the water away from her eyes, Mia looked over to see Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, hurrying towards them, shaking her finger angrily at something above them. Moving her gaze upwards, Mia's eyes narrowed as she saw Peeves the Poltergeist floating about twenty feet above them, cackling madly before he got another water balloon ready.

"Peeves! Why you little—" Mia said, taking her wand out of her pocket. Peeves just grinned wickedly at her and then sent another balloon her way. Mia had to jump sharply to the left in order to avoid it, knocking into someone as she did.

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" Professor McGonagall hollered.

"Not doing nothing! Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" Peeves laughed as he landed another bomb on a group of first year girls.

"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves—"

Peeves simply stuck his tongue out at her before dropping the last of his water balloons and zooming away up the marble staircase. Muttering furiously under her breath, Professor McGonagall told them all to continue into the Great Hall, which they did, slipping and sliding most of the way because of the wet floor. The moment they walked into the Great Hall, Mia, despite being soaking wet and cold, couldn't help but smile as she took in the familiar sight before her. A grand hall, lit by hundreds upon hundreds of floating candles and torches on the walls, the four house tables holding chattering students, the golden goblets and plates sparkling in the light, and the teachers table at the other end of the room. Mia and the others went over to the Gryffindor table to sit with their fellow housemates, where they greeted Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. He greeted them warmly and shook his head as Harry and Ron emptied out the water from their shoes, saying how starving they were. Hermione and Mia were wringing the water out of their hair, creating a puddle on the floor, and then Mia tied hers into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. While everyone else filed in, they were also greeted by Colin Creevey, a very hyperactive and cheerful third year who considered Harry his all-time favorite hero. Seeing him ogle at Harry always made Mia giggle in amusement—it was like Harry had his own personal talkative shadow. Colin told Harry excitedly how his younger brother, Dennis, was coming to school this year, and how much he had hoped that Dennis would get into Gryffindor with him.

"Brothers and sisters usually get into the same house together, don't they?" Harry asked when Colin had turned away from them.

"Not always," Mia replied. "Parvati's twin sister, Padma, is in Ravenclaw, and so is Jenna's brother, Derrick."

"She's right," Ron said. "Bill told me that the Sorting Hat considered putting him in Ravenclaw but decided Gryffindor in the end."

"What house do you think Brian will be in when he comes to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked her.

"Well, he's definitely brave and stubborn enough to be a Gryffindor," Mia answered with a smile. "I mean, it would be nice if he was in the same house as me. It sucks we're so far apart in age, so we can't be in school at the same time. Then again, with all the trouble he causes, it's probably best to stay out of the line of fire."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all laughed at that before they starting making small chat to pass the time. Hermione pointed out that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was not there yet, while all Ron could do was moan about how hungry he was. Not very long later, the doors to the Great Hall once again opened and everyone turned to look as Professor McGonagall led in the new group of first year students, all of whom were wet, shaking, and looking stiff with nerves. At the front of the line was a very small boy with mousey brown hair who was wrapped up in what looked like Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. When the first years were all facing the rest of the school, Professor McGonagall came forth with the stool and the Sorting Hat. Once she placed the hat upon the stool, there was a moment of silence as everyone stared at it. And then, a tear near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth and it began to sing loudly:

"_A thousand years or more ago_

_When I was newly sewn_

_There lived four wizards of renown_

_Whose names are still well known_

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild more_

_Fair Ravenclaw from glen_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad_

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen_

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream_

_They hatched a daring plan_

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began_

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own house, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach_

_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

_Prized far beyond the rest_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best_

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission_

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition_

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone_

'_Twas Gryffindor who found the way_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead_

_Now slip me snug about your ears_

_I've never yet been wrong_

_I'll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell where you belong"_

The Great Hall rang with applause as the hat finished its song and bowed to the house tables before becoming still once again.

"That wasn't the song it sang for us in our first year," Harry said.

"Sings a new one every year," Ron explained. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one."

"That really has to be depressing," Mia said thoughtfully. "Maybe Dumbledore should wear it around the castle and Hogsmeade every once in a while."

Harry and Ron snorted at this, no doubt picturing it in their minds, while Hermione simply rolled her eyes at them. Professor McGonagall pulled out a long roll of parchment and then started calling out names of people to be Sorted. Colin's brother Dennis turned out to be the first one Sorted into Gryffindor, and Mia clapped along with everyone else at her table as Dennis took of the hat and eagerly took a seat close to his brother, instantly telling him how he had fallen into the lake and the giant squid pushed him back inside the boat, as if it were every kid's dream.

"Looks like you're going to have two stalkers this year," Mia whispered to Harry, giggling quietly. Harry made a face and she had to muffle her giggles with her hand when they started to get louder. The Sorting continued on and with each passing minute, Harry and Ron's stomach growls seemed to be getting more frequent. She shared a look with Hermione and they both shook their heads. _Boys. _At long last, the Sorting was over, and Mia laughed when Ron and Harry cheered as the food suddenly appeared on the table. It was a delicious feast, with so much food it was hard to load everything onto their plates. The boys started munching down while Mia and Hermione took their time, actually savoring the wonderful meal. Mia was cutting into her chicken as Ron happily rubbed his stomach, his mouth full of potatoes, to which Sir Nick commented that they were lucky to have a feast at all. Apparently Peeves was angry that the ghost's council had decided against him joining in on the feast and caused chaos in the kitchen. Mia just shook her head. She understood Peeves wanting to come to the feast, but she also knew that if he did, there would be nothing but complete mayhem for everyone. She listened as Sir Nick told them about the mess Peeves made, and her interest reached a high peak when he said that Peeves had scared the wits out of the house-elves.

"House-elves?" Mia asked, her eyes widening slightly as Hermione knocked over her goblet of pumpkin juice in shock. "You mean there are house-elves that work here?"

"Of course," replied Sir Nick. "The largest number in Britain, as a matter of fact. They are the ones who prepare the meals and clean up the castle. They're hardly ever seen because they usually only come out at night, to tend to the fires and the common rooms, and so on."

"But—but surely they must get paid!" Hermione insisted, looking absolutely horror-struck that there were house-elves in the castle. "And what about holidays? And sick leave, and pensions?"

"Sick leave and pensions?" Sir Nick chortled. "They don't want sick leave and pensions! And they refuse to be paid at all."

Hermione just continued to stare at Sir Nick for a moment, then she looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, put down her knife and fork, and pushed it away from her glaring. Ron told her that she wouldn't be helping anything by starving herself, to which Hermione snapped angrily that it was slave labor that made the meal. Mia mentally groaned. _Oh boy, here she goes. _

"What's up with you?" Harry asked, seeing her face.

"I have a feeling that Hermione's going to do something drastic," Mia said quietly, glancing over at her bushy-haired friend. "She's been over sensitive about the rights of house-elves ever since the World Cup."

"Well, it should certainly be interesting then," Harry said with a smile.

"Of course it is for you, you don't have to share a dorm room with her," Mia muttered, stabbing her chicken with her fork. Harry just laughed at her as he continued eating his own food. When dinner and dessert were through, the hall became quiet as Professor Dumbledore got to his feet. He greeted them all very warmly and cheerfully, like he always does, before giving them the usual start of term announcements, such as the Forbidden Forest being off limits, and how Mr. Filch has added more items on the list of objects not allowed in the castle. Mia looked over at Fred and George and could tell that they were memorizing all the things Professor Dumbledore was listing off. However, the usual announcements were soon forgotten as Dumbledore told them all that the Quidditch season would not be taking place at Hogwarts this year. Mia was shocked, and she looked from Harry, who seemed mortified, back to the twins, whose smiles had vanished and were gaping open mouthed at the headmaster, lost for words. It was actually rather funny.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teacher's time and energy," Dumbledore said. Mia sat up straighter in her seat, a smile coming across her face. This was it, they were finally going to know what the secret event was!

"But I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely," Dumbledore continued, that familiar twinkle shining in his eyes. "I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts—"

However, Dumbledore didn't get to finish his sentence for at that moment the doors of the Great Hall burst open loudly and everyone turned their heads to see who had arrived. Mia looked around Harry to see that a man was standing in the entrance to the hall, dressed in a damp, black cloak and leaning on a tall wooden staff. He stood there for only a moment, staring around at them all before he made his way up to the teacher's table, towards Dumbledore, lowering his hood as he went. Another flash of lightning struck across the ceiling and a gasp escaped Mia's lips as the light revealed the stranger's face. Or really, if someone can really call it a face. This man looked as if he had crawled through hell and back again. His face was totally covered in long, deep scars, with a huge chunk of his nose missing and instead of a left leg made of flesh, there was a wooden one, ending in a clawed foot.. Moving her gaze to his eyes, Mia was shocked and frightened to see that he had two completely different ones. One of them looked like a normal eye should, small, dark, and beady. But the other one was two times larger and a shocking electric blue. What really creped Mia out was that this blue eye s was swirling up, down, forward, backward and diagonally in its eye socket. It was like the eye was bewitched to move and see everything from everywhere. Dumbledore greeted the stranger and gestured over to the empty seat at the table. Once the man was sitting and started to eat, Dumbledore presented him as the New Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alastor Moody.

"Moody? She heard Harry mutter to Ron. "_Mad-Eye Moody? _The one your dad went to help out this morning?"

"Must be," Ron said in a slightly awed voice. While everyone in the hall was still staring at Moody, Dumbledore once again started to speak.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event in the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" Fred Weasley yelled loudly. Mia was confused as almost everyone started to laugh. Triwizard Tournament? What on earth is that?

"I assure you Mr. Weasley, I am certainly not joking," Dumbledore chuckled. "Some of you well know what this tournament is about, I beg you to forgive me while I inform others of what it is. The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every years, and it was greatly agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities. Until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

_"Death toll?!" _Hermione gasped in horror. Mia wasn't paying attention, however, as she whipped her head around to glare at Harry.

"Don't even think about it!" she said.

"I haven't done anything!" Harry protested.

"Every year something always happens to you, and this is just an invite for you to be dragged into something dangerous and stupid! You better not even be _remotely _thinking about entering this tournament Harry."

"Yes Mum," Harry said, rolling his eyes at her. Mia glared at him before turning her attention back to Dumbledore, seriously contemplating locking him up in the dungeons until the school champions were selected. With the luck that Harry has, it sounded like a good necessary precaution. Dumbledore continued to talk about how the ministry deemed it worthy to try reinstating the tournament once again, and that the heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their students in October, and that the champion selection will take place on Halloween night. He told them that an impartial judge will be selecting the chosen champions who are worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and as well as one thousand galleons in prize money. Everyone in the hall was whispering excitedly to their friends at this point, no doubt imagining becoming the Hogwarts Champion. But their daydreams were demolished at Dumbledore's next words. The heads of the schools, as well as the ministry, has agreed that, for safety precautions, no student under the age of seventeen will be allowed to put forth their name to be considered as champion. There was a general cry of outrage at this, and the Weasley twins were looking furious. Mia, on the other hand, was very relieved and relaxed a little in her seat. Looks like she won't have to lock Harry up after all. She didn't care how smart her fellow schoolmates thought they were—if Professor Dumbledore said no one under seventeen was entering, then he would damn well make sure of it. She listened as the headmaster told them to treat their foreign guests with respect and courtesy when they arrive in October, and to give support to the Hogwarts champion, whoever he or she may be. Then, once he was through speaking, he sent them all of to bed. There were still grumbles and excited whispers all around as Mia and her friends got up from the table and started following everyone out of the hall.

Fred and George were talking about how they were going to try to pull one over the impartial judge so they could be entered in the tournament. Ron was talking about it excitedly too, his eyes gleaming over at the mention of the reward money. Hermione had argued with them though, saying that the tasks were most likely going to be extremely dangerous, and that no one below sixth and seventh years has learned enough in order for them to even survive the tournament. Mia herself was thinking about the tournament as they all climbed the stairs, heading up to bed in Gryffindor tower. The prospect of the tournament seemed fun, but only for a viewer's point of view. She really admired anyone who entered, because that takes a lot of courage to do. Going through magical tasks to bring glory to your school and be known as the first champion in over a century. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of watching it. Later on as she was lying in her bed in the girl's dormitories, she wondered if the Triwizard Tournament was going to be as exciting as everyone said it would be.

….

The next morning was the start of the first day of classes, and Mia was rather excited. After eating breakfast with her friends in the Great Hall, they examined their schedules and saw that they were outside all morning. First was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and then it was Care of Magical Creatures class with the Slytherins. Glad that they were going to be seeing Hagrid soon, Mia munched on her toast happily as she gave Pig a piece of her bacon. The Herbology lesson turned out to be a little disgusting, but interesting all the same. They all were assigned to collect the pus from strange black plants called Bubotubers, which looked more like slimy slugs than anything else. Mia made a face as she and Hermione squeezed the swellings on the plant and watched the greenish-yellow liquid ooze out of it, and they collected the pus into bottles.

"This is nasty," Hermione muttered as she squeezed yet another swelling.

"It's not so bad, I guess, as long as we don't get it on ourselves," Mia stated, holding the bottle so the liquid would fall into it.

"Do you want to go to the library after classes today? That way we can get started on our homework?"

"Hermione, it's the first day back!" Mia said incredulously. "Surely you don't think we'll have that much homework, do you?"

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Hermione said. "You never know, and if we do get homework than we should probably start it before we have Potions and Transfiguration class tomorrow. You know Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall have no trouble handing out a lot of work in the first class."

"All right, all right," Mia mumbled, knowing Hermione was right. She looked over at the table next to their and saw Jenna working with Alex Parker, Hannah Abbott, and Susan Bones.

"Hey Jenna, Alex," Mia said to them. "Do you guys want to head to the library with me and Hermione later on today?"

"You're joking right?" Alex said. "I wasn't planning on heading to the library for another couple days."

"That's what I keep telling her," Mia said, shaking her head in mock sadness while Hermione rolled her eyes at her. "What about you Jenna?"

"No thanks Mia, I'm going to be hanging out with Lucy and Mandy Brocklehurst," Jenna replied.

"Who?"

"She's a Ravenclaw in our year," Alex explained. "She's the blonde girl who's always in that big group, strutting around the school like a pack of Hyenas."

Mia was silent, having a good idea who Alex was talking about. Mandy Brocklehurst was a very pretty Ravenclaw, and she did have a large group of friends around her all the time. Mia had never talked to them, so she had no idea what they were like.

"That's mean Alex," said Jenna with a frown.

"It's true," Alex defended. "They're some of the most popular girls in school and they have no problem letting other people know it. You saw how they treat Eloise Midgen."

"Eloise said they were just joking around, they didn't really mean anything by it," Jenna said.

"Yeah, and I'm a dancing Grindylow wearing a frilly pink tutu," Alex said sarcastically. Jenna glared at Alex and then squeezed a swelling a little too hard, causing the liquid to ooze all over the table. Once the lesson was over and they cleaned themselves up, Jenna and Alex left with the other Hufflepuffs to head to Transfiguration while Mia went along with her friends down the sloping grounds to Hagrid's cabin, where he was waiting for them with a bunch of opened crates at his feet. He informed them all that they would be raising baby Blast-Ended Skrewts, horribly ugly creatures that no one had ever heard of before. There was about a hundred in each crate, and they all looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, pale and slimy looking, with legs sticking out in very odd angles and no visible heads. They smelled like rotting fish, and every once in a while sparks would fly out of one end. Hagrid told them that all they had to do today was feed them, but there was a problem—Hagrid had never tended to these creatures before, so they had to find out what they ate. It was only out of respect and love for Hagrid that Mia, Harry, Ron and Hermione took some frog liver from him and tried feeding it to the Blast-Ended Skrewts.

An hour later, they were all heading back up to the castle for lunch, all of them grateful for not having to deal with the creatures for the rest of the day, but also slightly worried on how big they would get once Hagrid figured out what they ate. Once they sat down to eat, Hermione surprised them all by shoveling food into her mouth, acting as if she hadn't eaten in days.

"Uh, Mione?" Mia said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hermione mumbled through a mouthful of potatoes. "I just want to get to the library."

"_What?" _gasped Ron in disbelief. "Hermione, it's the first day back! We haven't gotten any homework yet!"

"And I thought we were going to the library later?" Mia asked.

"We are. I just need to look for something real quick," Hermione confirmed as she swallowed her food and took a long gulp of her juice before jumping to her feet and dashing out of the Great Hall, yelling over her shoulder that she'd see them at dinner.

"She's mental," Ron stated bluntly.

"Well, she does hang out with us," Mia said with a shrug. "I'm sure something must have rubbed off by now. What do you guys have this afternoon?"

"Double Divination," Harry grumbled. "What about you?"

"I have Ancient Runes with Hermione after lunch, and then I'm free until dinner," Mia replied.

"Lucky you," said Ron.

"You two should have just dropped it if you didn't want to take it anymore," Mia pointed out before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Hey Ron, would you mind if I borrowed Pig?"

"No, what do you need him for?" Ron asked.

"I'm sending a letter to Mrs. Brugger," Mia replied. "I promised her I'd tell her how my first day of classes went."

"How? She's a Muggle right? So how can you tell her anything that happens here?"

"I put it in Muggle terms," Mia explained. "I call Quidditch football, Potions is Science, Defense Against the Dark Arts is Gym, and so on. I always double check it to make sure I don't slip up in anything."

The three of them had a pleasant lunch together before it was time for them all to head off to their classes. They left the Great Hall and walked up the marble staircase together until they reached the fourth floor. Mia waved goodbye to Harry and Ron as she turned and started walking down the corridor to her Ancient Runes class that was on the left hand side. She was one of the first ones there, so she took a seat near the front and only had to wait a short time for Hermione to come in, stuffing a book into her bag as she came over to the desk next Mia's. They were joined shortly after by Lucy Cannon, who sat down in front of Mia, and the three girls chatted for a little while until Professor Babbling entered and the class fell silent. She was a middle-aged witch, with robes that were similar to the ones Professor Dumbledore wore. Hers were a lovely shade of blue with silver trimmings, and her witch's hat had twinkling stars on them, with her honey-blonde hair pulled away from her face.

"Good afternoon everyone, and welcome back to Hogwarts," Professor Babbling greeted. "I hope you all had a nice holiday, and I am glad to see you back in the classroom. Now, this term I have a bit of a treat for you all. Or, I should really say a challenge."

Hermione perked up at this, and Mia's attention was high and alert.

"I have constructed a new project this term, a project that I normally do not give out to anyone besides students in my sixth and seventh year classes. Now, I have decided to give you all a chance to do this project, not to see how you succeeded in the task, but to see how hard you are working, and how much you have improved in your studies. As you can see, I have two piles of very old and very delicate scrolls on my desk right here—these scrolls were written as early as days of the Hogwarts founders themselves. As you all know, some of the Ancient Runes used in those times are extremely difficult. So difficult that only the top researchers and translators at the Ministry of Magic could de-code what was written. I have asked for copies for some of the more easier historical scrolls which they keep inside Gringotts to be used for this class.

"Now, this project comes in two parts. One half of these scrolls correspond to another in the other half. I have mixed them all together so no one knows which one is which. The project is to de-code the scroll to which you choose and then find the person who has the scroll that corresponds with it. This part of the project is to be done by the Christmas holidays. At the start of the second term, you and your classmate will become partners writing an essay on the connection and history between the two scrolls, to be handed in near the end of February. This assignment is to be done along with any other work I give to you this year. Are there any questions?"

Everyone in class shook their heads, and there was eager and curious whispering now spreading throughout the room. Mia was very excited about this project, she wasn't expecting them to do anything like this until at least their fifth year, so she was happy that Professor Babbling was giving them this opportunity. Professor Babbling called them all up one row at a time to her desk so they could choose a scroll from either of the two piles. Once they all had their scrolls, everyone was instructed to take out their quills and parchment, and take notes as Professor Babbling began the lecture. After the lesson, they all packed up and left the classroom, each one talking excitedly about the new project.

"Ohh, I wonder what could be in our scrolls!" Hermione gushed to Mia and Lucy as she unraveled hers with the outmost care, as if it were made of glass. "These are definitely a little more advanced than what we usually do."

"It's a nice challenge though," Lucy said before smirking. "I bet you I can de-code mine first."

"Oh really?" asked Mia, raising an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

"I'm a Ravenclaw," Lucy said with a grin as she puffed out her chest, making Mia giggle. _"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."_

"Well, I bet I can get mine done before you and Hermione," Mia stated.

"I thought we would work on it together?" Hermione said.

"Come on Mione, let's have a little fun with this," Mia said. "Make a friendly competition out of it."

"I guess that doesn't sound too bad," Hermione said with a smile of her own. "But you do realize that I'm the smartest witch in our year?"

"I'm one of the best in that class," Lucy countered playfully.

"I'm just awesome!" Mia exclaimed with a grin. Lucy and Hermione laughed loudly at that and the girls made their way down the corridor together before they had to go their separate ways. Mia left her two friends as she made her way up to Gryffindor tower to drop off her things and rest for a while before it was time to head down to dinner. When she finally reached the tower she put her things on her bed in the dorm room and then used whatever time she had left to write her letter to Mrs. Brugger. She loved writing to her, although she did feel bad that she had to lie to her all the time. She told a pretty sugar-coated story of how they took care of cute little wolf cubs in their "Animal Care Class," and about their new assignment in "Writing Composition Class." It took her a little longer than usual since she had to add in the revised stories, but the minute she was done, she placed it in the envelope, sealed it, and put her home address on it. Since she couldn't very well send an owl to Mrs. Brugger's house, she always sent her letters to her parents, and they would get Mrs. Brugger's letters to her. Mia then left the tower and started making her way towards the Olwery, where she was sure Pig was getting on the other owl's nerves. When she got there, she called out to him and she heard a thump as Pig fell off his resting place in excitement at being summoned. It took a few minutes for Mia to get the letter ties to his foot, since he was so fidgety and wouldn't stay still. Finally, she managed to get the letter attached, and in the next instant, she cast him off into the night, watching as he disappeared into the darkening sky. She stood at the window for a moment, just taking in the nice breeze that was blowing through, and she looked around to see if Hedwig had returned, for Harry had been awaiting her return for quite some time now. But she was nowhere to be seen, and Mia sighed, then left the Owlery to go down to dinner.

On her way down, she started thinking about the Triwizard Tournament again. It sounded dangerous, but also very exciting. Her mind was so occupied that when she turned a corner to cut through the first floor corridor, she walked straight into someone. She let out a yelp of surprise and waved her arms around a bit to prevent herself from falling down. When she regained her balance, she looked over to see an equally startled Alex, who had dropped the books that were in his hands.

"Oh Alex, I'm so sorry!" Mia said, bending down quickly to start gathering the fallen books. "I wasn't watching where I was going…"

"No, it's okay Mia," Alex said, bending down to help her. "It was an accident, I'm fine. Are you heading to dinner?"

"Yes," Mia replied, handing his books back to him.

"Well, how about I be your escort?" he suggested with a smile as they both stood up. "I was going to go with my best mate Ryan, but somehow I lost him."

"Sure, that sounds good to me," Mia said, giving him a smile in return. The two of them walked down the corridor together, and it was silent for a minute before Alex spoke.

"So, you had a good holiday?" he asked.

"Yes, it was very nice," Mia answered. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to go to your party Alex, my parents made me stay home to watch Brian."

"It's all right. I did miss you though."

"You did?" Mia said, slightly surprised.

"I mean, well we all did," Alex said quickly. "Everyone at the party, I mean."

Alex moved his gaze away from her, as if he didn't want her to see his face. He suddenly seemed very uncomfortable, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Alex, are you all right?" Mia asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex muttered quietly, before taking a short breath and looking at her again. He opened his mouth, but seemed to have some difficulty with the words. "Mia, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Well, um, I guess I just…I was wondering if you-"

Alex's sentence was suddenly cut off as they heard a loud, booming deep voice reverberate off the walls, echoing into the empty space.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Alex and Mia jumped a little at the shout, and they looked at each other in shock for a moment before hurrying down the last flight of stairs to see what all the noise was about. As they ran down the marble staircase, they saw a huge commotion by the doors leading to the Great Hall. Professor Moody had his wand out, a look of fury on his face as he limped over to a small, pure white ferret that was standing on the floor. What in the world was going on here? Once Mia and Alex reached the bottom, they walked over to the edge of the crowd, where they ran into Neville and Rachel.

"What's happened?" Alex asked.

"Professor Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret," Rachel replied, looking very pleased and amused.

"What?!" Mia and Alex said together.

"It's true," Neville added. "Malfoy was making fun of Ron's mum and dad because of an article about them in the Daily Prophet, and Harry got back at him by talking about his mum. When Harry turned around, Malfoy tried to curse him, but Professor Moody stopped him."

Mia's mouth dropped open as she looked back over at Professor Moody, who was using his wand to make the ferret rise high into the air and then smack back to the ground.

"I'll teach you to curse someone while their back is turned, boy!" Professor Moody growled as he made Malfoy go into the air again. "Don't—ever—do—that—again!"

"Professor Moody!" came a shocked voice. Mia saw Professor McGonagall coming down the staircase, her arms full of books. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching," Professor Moody replied calmly.

"Teach—Moody, is that a student?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed in horror as she dropped all the books she was holding.

"Technically it's a ferret," Professor Moody answered, a small crooked grin on his face.

"No!" Professor McGonagall cried as she ran forward, pulling her wand out of her pocket. In the next moment, Draco Malfoy reappeared on his hands and knees, his eyes watering with pain. Mia had to bite her lip very hard to keep herself from giggling. It's about time Malfoy got some humiliation and pain. This could possibly top Hermione slapping him right in the face at the end of last year. Professor McGonagall scolded Professor Moody on the proper punishments for disciplining students, and told him to take Malfoy to his head of house if he has misbehaved. Professor Moody seemed to think that it was a good idea, for he turned around, grabbed Malfoy's upper arm, and then dragged him off towards the dungeons. All Mia could do was stare at where they disappeared, stunned at what had just happened. This was definitely going to be one of her absolute favorite memories. Professor stared after them as well before she summoned her books back into her arms and told them all to go on into the hall. Once there was movement again, Mia turned back to Alex, who had an amused expression on his face.

"Well, that was certainly entertaining," he said.

"More like bloody brilliant," Mia giggled. "Anyway, what did you want to ask me?"

Alex's expression faded a little and he looked around for a moment before looking back at her. He smiled at her, but it seemed slightly forced.

"Don't worry about it Mia, it's nothing," he said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Mia didn't really get the chance to answer, because Alex moved around her and then followed everyone else into the Great Hall, his shoulders slumped. What was wrong with him? Mia didn't like seeing her friends upset, and knowing that Alex was lying about something bothering him made her a little worried. She thought about this as she went into the hall herself, easily spotting Harry, Ron and Hermione taking a seat at their table. She hurriedly made her way over to them and was just sitting down next to Harry when Ron said, "Don't talk to me."

"Why not?" Hermione said in surprise.

"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," he replied, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret…"

Mia, Harry and Hermione all burst out laughing at that as Hermione starting dishing out beef casserole onto their plates.

"But he could have really hurt Malfoy though," she said once she regained her breath. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall came and stopped it."

"Hermione!" Mia said in agitation.

"You're ruining the best moment of our lives!" Ron said angrily, glaring at her. Hermione just made an impatient noise while Harry burst out laughing yet again.

"Why am I friends with you all again?" she muttered.

"Because you couldn't survive the boredom that came along without us," Mia said simply. "Could you pass the rolls please, Mione?"

**Read and review please!**


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